


Sanguine and Choleric

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alfor is Chief of the Northern Water Tribe, Allura and Lance are Siblings, Allura is awful but gets a redemption arc, Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Breaking Up & Making Up, Cheating, Earthbender Hunk (Voltron), Earthbender Shiro (Voltron), Firebender Keith (Voltron), Firebender Pidge (Voltron), Getting Back Together, Getting Together, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Lance is probably OP, Lotor is not evil, M/M, Murder Mystery, Past Dark Allura, Post-Avatar: The Legend of Korra, Prince Lance (Voltron), Secret Identity, Secrets, Waterbender Allura (Voltron), Waterbender Lance (Voltron), Waterbender Lotor (Voltron), it's compliantish with LoK canon, police officer keith, police officer shiro, zarkon and co aren't so evil in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-04 03:33:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 38,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11546619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Lance and Lotor arrive in Republic City like a storm, kicking up drama and intrigue along the way. In normal circumstances, their stories may be believed, but a recent string of murders at the hand of a bloodbender prompt further investigation of the unknown waterbenders, revealing that the pair have their fair share of secrets. Despite this, Officer Kogane grows closer to one of the travelers in particular. Secrets can only remain hidden for so long, however, both those of Lance and those of a murderer;  clues point to those two being one and the same, and Keith must fight to prove Lance's innocence, something he may not fully buy himself.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, so i've written about 24K words of this and have decided to just post a few chapters while i'm finishing up; THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A QUICK ONE-SHOT BUT I'M THIS FAR AND HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO THE PLOT TWIST LMAO.

Keith had been hoping he’d be able to enjoy a peaceful evening with his brother, Shiro, and Shiro’s boyfriend, Matt. It wasn’t too often that the three could spend time together given their busy schedules; both Shiro and Matt had recently been promoted at their respective workplaces, so they were limited in when they could be social. Unfortunately, while the trio had been relaxing at one of their favorite tea shops, Keith and Shiro heard a commotion around the block.

“Help!” a young man shouted, frantically dashing within view of the patio where they’d been seated. “Stop that thief!”

“What’s that?” Matt asked, craning his neck to see past the crowd who stared at the man but didn’t offer any help.

“We should check it out,” Shiro said while standing. “We’ll only be a few minutes, Matt.”

“Alright, go be a hero, _sergeant_ ,” Matt smiled and winked at Shiro.

Keith hopped over the small hedge demarking the end of the patio before jogging toward the distraught man. Shiro preferred to use the offered gate instead, but was quick on his heels.

“Help!” he had proceeded further down the street, but the crowd was proving to be his enemy.

Keith reached him first. “Sir,” he began. “I’m with the police. What’s the problem?”

He turned to face Keith, sniffling. “A man, he was wearing a large black scarf, cut the straps on my bag! I need to get it back. He went down this street, but I’m new here and don’t actually know where he could’ve gone.”

“Any other descriptors?”

“Well, he was pretty scrawny, probably just a kid,” he frowned. “He caught me by surprise, though. Oh, he also had a blue cap!”

With a nod, Keith took off down the road. Sighing, Shiro remained behind with the victim, removing his notepad so he could handle the case more formally. “We’ll walk after him; in the meantime, could you give me your name and address?” He held out an arm, gesturing for the man to walk forward.

“What for?” he kept pace with Shiro.

“Well, with any crime, a report has to be made. You can decide later whether you’d like to press charges against them; it’s just helpful to make sure we get down all the details while the memories are still fresh.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“So, what’s your name?”

“Lance.”

“And where do you live?”

“Er… well, I just moved here. My bag has the address of the hotel I’m currently staying at, but I couldn’t tell you. I think it’s near some large tower thing?”

“Harmony Tower?”

“That’s right!”

“Alright. And where were you robbed, exactly?”

“I was standing at a stall, over in that large plaza area? –Looking at some of the jewelry—it was all very pretty, and I admit I got a bit sidetracked. I’ve never been in such a large city before! Anyway, I noticed the missing weight pretty quickly, and I turned to see the man with my bag—he’d cut the straps. I chased after him, but he was small, like I said, and had an easier time slipping through everyone.”

“Alright. I’m sure my brother will be able to get you your bag back—he knows these streets very well.”

“Brother? You two don’t look very similar.”

“Adopted brother.”

“Oh, well that’s nice,” he smiled softly. “I’m not very close to my family.”

“Is that why you moved?” Shiro shut his mouth—it was hardly his business. He cursed his inquisitive nature.

Lance chuckled lightly. “Partly. I also wanted to see what Republic City was like, have a bit of an adventure before I got on in age.”

The crowd was thinning, and Shiro caught sight of his brother at the end of an alley; in one hand he held a leather satchel, in the other he was dragging their perp by the back of his shirt. As Lance had guessed, they were young. Shiro easily recognized them as someone who he often busted for similar crimes.

Lance practically skipped to Keith, grinning. “Oh, thank you so much, officer…?”

“Kogane,” he looked up, then froze. His mouth fell open, and he blinked slowly, caught up in the stranger’s looks. “Er, Keith Kogane.”

Shiro took the man from Keith so he could better focus on his task—he was nothing if not a good wingman.

“You’re a savior, Officer Kogane!” Lance raved. “My whole life is pretty much in there!”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he flushed. “Just my job.”

“You were very brave,” Lance continued. “I hope you didn’t get hurt because of me.”

Keith shook his head. “Well, thank you, but it was no trouble; he didn’t put up much of a fight.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Shiro said—and he was, honestly. Keith glared at him when Lance redirected his attention, regardless. “But, I have to ask: are you interested in pressing charges?”

“Oh, right. Um…” he shrugged, the robe he’d been wearing falling open to reveal two slinged arms. He chuckled uneasily. “I’m a bit incapacitated at the moment, but if you checked in my bag, could you get my wallet?”

“Sure,” Keith replied. He opened the bag with care—more than was strictly necessary, Shiro thought with a roll of his eyes—though Lance seemed appreciative, at least.

“I don’t think I’ll press charges, I mean he’s just a kid, isn’t he?” Lance continued

The young boy squirmed in Shiro’s grasp, grumbling under his breath. Lance only laughed.

“Who wasn’t a bit wild in their youth?” he turned to Keith. “If you could take out one of the bills, please?”

“Which—“ he opened the wallet and tensed; the thing was packed with 10,000 and 1,000 yuan bills. Having grown up without a great deal of money, it was a bit of a shock to see someone his age—who didn’t appear rich, really—carrying around so much currency.

“I’m not so sure on the exchange rate, honestly, um, but I’m sure I could spare him some of it. Whatever’s reasonable?”

None of it was, but Keith wasn’t about to tell this man how to spend his money. So, he handed a 1,000 yuan bill over to the boy, who had manners enough at least to bow low toward Lance.

“Thank you, mister. Sorry for stealing.”

“It’s fine, just try not to do it again, alright? Use this money for what you need instead, okay?”

He nodded frantically while Shiro undid his cuffs. Without a word, he ran back toward the plaza; Keith only hoped he’d keep his sticky fingers to himself for the night. Maybe he’d go back to his friends and they’d enjoy a meal with the money, but he highly doubted Lance’s gift would completely free him from his burdens.

“Keith,” Shiro said. “I’m going to head back to Matt so we can get dinner. Why don’t you walk with Lance back to his hotel?”

“Oh, I don’t wish to inconvenience you anymore! You’ve already done so much for me.”

“It’s fine. Besides, since he broke this, it’ll be hard for you to carry your bag with your injury.” Keith smiled. “And you’ve somehow managed to run into trouble in the short amount of time you’ve been here, so maybe you’ll be better off having someone looking out for you.”

Lance giggled. “Well, if you insist, Officer Kogane.”

“Please, call me Keith.”

Shiro had never been more proud; Keith’s graduation from the police academy paled in comparison to him successfully flirting with a man who was just his type. He couldn’t wait to get back to his dinner, both to see Matt as well as to share the gossip.

“So, do you know where your hotel is?” Keith asked.

“Near Harmony Tower, apparently. It’s red, I’d say traditional fire nation architecture?”

“Right, I think I know the place. Overlooking the park?” Keith took a few steps in the right direction; Lance fell into step beside him.

“That’s the one!” he smiled. “So, you’re with the police?”

“That’s right. I joined a bit recently, I’ve only been an investigator for a few months.”

“That’s incredible!” he breathed. “You’re a metalbender, then?”

“Oh, well, no. There are a number of non-earthbenders and even non-benders on the force as well. I’m a firebender.”

Lance nodded. “That suits you well, I think.”

Keith raised a brow, and Lance laughed at his face. “Oh, you know, the stereotypes about firebenders? Being brash and impulsive? For example, rushing to help a stranger chase down a thief?”

He flushed. “Well, I knew I could fend for myself. And, he was just a kid,” he teased.

Lance pouted. “I’ll have you know I’m a perfectly capable bender myself! If it weren’t for my injury, I wouldn’t have had a problem.”

Keith chuckled. “Sure, Lance. Let me guess…” he looked Lance up and down. The clothes screamed earth kingdom fashion, but they were clearly new—his more suspicious side would call it a disguise. Lance’s skin, hair, and eyes would suggest his origin being in the water kingdom, northern perhaps. The bag, genuine turtle sealskin, if he had to guess, was well-worn, not something bought by an idle tourist. “Waterbender?”

“Well, that’s not fair!” he whined. “Of course I look like a waterbender.”

Keith shrugged. “You never know in Republic City. Any bender can look like anything these days. So, are you just passing through?”

“I hope to settle here, actually. I’d love to work as a healer somewhere, if possible, since I’m classically trained.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to find work in the city,” Keith nodded. The detective side of him was dying to know Lance’s backstory, but the more normal side of him urged him to frame his questions in a socially acceptable way. “Where are you from?”

“Southern water tribe,” he answered quickly—too quickly? Keith shook his head at the intrusive thought. “Have you ever been?”

“No, I haven’t traveled much.”

“Well, if you ever have the chance, I’d recommend any other destination—it’s so boring down there! You know everyone, essentially, and everyone’s just so nosy all the time! I had to get away.”

“Did you travel here alone?”

He shook his head. “I’m here with my friend I met in Ba Sing Se. He wants to be a mover star,” he laughed. “I know it’s a bit of a pipe dream, but if anyone can do it, it’s him.”

“Well, if you need any help settling in, you can always call me at the Station.”

“You’re too kind!” Lance grinned. “I’m glad to have met a friend so soon! Almost makes me grateful to that little thief.”

“You should be more careful—maybe don’t carry so much money around, for one.”

“Oh, is this a lot?” he frowned.

“It is. And the bag, too, is a bit nicer than the average healer would wear.”

“Oh,” he eyed the bag in Keith’s hand. “Well, I guess it’s not so nice anymore, now that it’s broken. A shame, my father gave it to me.”

“I’m sure someone in town could fix it.”

“It’s not a big deal. I only held on to it since it was useful for travel. I hated my father.”

“Oh,” Keith replied, not sure how to respond to that.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to overshare. I actually only hate my step-father. It’s more of a muted animosity toward my actual father. Wait, sorry, that’s even more info you didn’t ask for.”

“That’s rough, buddy.”

He laughed. “So, how is it like working with your brother? Is it fun?”

“Of course, Shiro’s great. He’s always been a mentor to me. His family brought me in when I was pretty young; I wasn’t too different from that kid who nicked your purse, before then,” he smiled softly at the memory. “When Shiro got older and signed up for the Academy, I decided to follow him. I had a few years to wait, but as soon as I could, I joined.”

“Do you like it?’

“I do,” he nodded. “I’m not in the field as much as I’d like, but even the desk stuff, the old-school investigating… it’s very satisfying when all the data just clicks and you catch your mark.”

“Well, I’m certainly glad you were in the field tonight.”

Lance slowed to a stop, gesturing toward the front of an ornate building with his chin. “Here’s my stop.”

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t walk you to your door?”

“A horrid one, for sure,” Lance chuckled. “Well, just this way, then.” They proceeded up the steps where a doorman met them with a smile.

“Welcome back, sir,” he bowed his head.

“Good evening,” Lance replied. “Has Lotor returned?”

“Yes, he came back about half an hour ago.”

“Thank you.” He turned to Keith. “Lotor’s my travel partner,” he explained. “I’m just down this hallway here.”

Past the lobby and front desk, they turned right and stopped at the final door. Lance kicked at the door a few times, his form of a knock, apparently, though given the state of his arms it made sense.

The door opened to reveal who Keith assumed to be Lotor: tall, with marked water tribe features, and shocking white hair. He certainly had a look about him—perhaps he could become some kind of mover star, assuming he was actually a decent actor. He raised a fine brow on seeing Keith.

“Who’s this, Lance?” he stepped out of the doorway so Lance could enter. Keith only took one step inside the lavish room, not feeling welcome.

“This is Keith, he helped me when some kid tried to rob me earlier.”

Lotor immediately focused his attention on Lance. “You were robbed? Are you alright?”

“Of course, thanks to Keith!” he smiled. “He’s a police officer, isn’t that cool?”

“Is that right?” he eyed Keith with suspicion. “Well, I thank you for helping my friend—he can be a bit careless.”

“I was fine!”

“You were gone for two hours and somehow got robbed—you have all of our money!”

“You worry too much!” he glared.

Lotor sighed. “Regardless, I’ll be keeping track of the bag from now on. And I don’t think I want you out alone anymore.”

“That’s not fair!”

“You clearly aren’t aware of how dangerous this city can be. It’s not like your village, you know. You’re lucky someone like Keith found you, and not some second thief.”

Lance turned, huffing. His look softened on seeing Keith. “Sorry, he can be a bit overprotective. Thanks again, for everything, Keith,” he smiled.

“Oh sure,” he cleared his throat. A quick glance at Lotor showed that Lance’s friend was far from impressed.

“I think you mentioned a number earlier?” Lance walked toward a small end table, outfitted with the hotel’s stationary.

“Right…” Keith followed after him, quickly jotting down his work number. “I keep pretty typical business hours, and sometimes I stay pretty late into the evening. Feel free to call me if you want someone to show you around, or something.” It was a normal enough suggestion, he assured himself. Very smooth.

“Will do, Keith!” With that, Keith nodded toward Lotor and headed for the door. Before he could make his way down the hall, he was gifted with a swift kiss to his cheek. “See you around, officer,” Lance winked before shutting the door.

The second it clicked shut, Lotor was on Lance.

“What the hell, Lance?” he hissed. “A cop? Really?”

“It wasn’t a big deal,” he insisted. “Besides, he was clearly too smitten to be suspicious.”

“We don’t need authorities so close to us, you know that,” he sighed. “Well, we can talk about it later. How are your arms?”

He wriggled them out of their slings, undoing his cape and tossing it over a settee. “Sore as hell. How much longer do I have to keep this up, do you think?”

“It’s up to you; so long as your recovery is believable according to whatever story you’ve concocted.”

Lance plopped himself down on their cushy bed, quickly undoing his wrappings. The skin was paler than the rest of him, cuts and bruises dotting the length of his arms. He flexed his fingers weakly, wincing.

“It’s a full moon tonight, so maybe I’ll bring them out tomorrow; it’ll be less taxing for me that way. I’ll miss it, though, it’s been nice—people have been so much more polite to me when they notice the slings.”

Lotor rolled his eyes. He settled next to Lance, a bottle of water in hand. He removed the cap and Lance immediately gathered the water in a disc that he held over one arm. He sighed in relief. Still, no amount of healing could save the damaged muscles within, though it did temporarily sooth the constant burning sensation; in addition, he often garnered a number of cuts and bumps through the day, never noticing due to the dead nerves, so he had to heal himself often to prevent infection.

While he worked one arm, Lotor gently massaged the other, as he did most every night those days. Without a word, they switched arms seamlessly. Once Lance was satisfied, Lotor helped him rewrap his arms with new bandages. They changed into their sleeping clothes, performed their nightly skin care routines, then went to bed.

It was a very domestic scene, one that had become second nature to them in their months of traveling together. Even before they’d left their home for the City, they’d been extremely comfortable with one another. Lance had an older half-sister, Princess Allura, who would someday rule the tribe as Chief, and on his mother’s side he had a number of siblings that he was only allowed to see once a year. Despite this, he’d always felt… left out, both from his royal side and his common side. Even the people who visited the palace were often confused by him—though he was hardly a secret. The most common tactic people used when dealing with him had been to ignore him, and so he went most of his life simply existing in the shadows.

His father, Alfor, had been kind to him, sure, but he always felt an unspoken resentment from Allura. He kept out of their hairs for the most part, spending time in the city and often going on his own long journeys into the tundra. Some of his favorite peers and mentors were those who existed on the fringe, just like him, loyal to the tribe but not living within its borders. 

He’d met Lotor only a month after his thirteenth birthday, the other young man being about a year older. Lotor was visiting the main palace, as he often did. He’d never spoken to Lance until that day, and it was hardly a welcome conversation. His opening line had been something along the lines of “Watch where you’re walking, servant,” mistaking Lance for a palace worker.

Despite his station, Lance’s natural rebuttal was to punch Lotor in the face. They brawled for a bit, with neither ever gaining the upper hand, and eventually Lotor called a truce. He apologized, and proper introductions were made.

Lotor was a spoiled brat who had too much time and money for his own good; Lance told him as much, and Lotor only laughed, saying that he knew. For the next year, the pair were fast friends, despite Alfor’s mistrust of Lotor’s father Zarkon. Allura would often voice her negative opinions of the young man as well, but Lance would never listen. Lotor had his flaws—vanity, pride, disregard for people deemed lower than him, entitlement, to name a few—but after their first meeting, he actually seemed to care about Lance, about his words and thoughts and feelings. Perhaps it was due to Lotor being his first friend his age, but Lance was blinded for a time, completely infatuated. They were best friends, and when Allura lashed out, Lance naturally grew closer and closer to Lotor.

Things with his family were always complicated, especially in the years before they had left. So, when Lotor first suggested that they run away to Republic City, start a new life where they could pursue their dreams—Lotor wanted to become an actor, while Lance simply wanted to have a real family—how could Lance say no? Of course, there were other reasons, other secrets Lance had that had forced him to flee his homeland, secrets he fully intended to carry to his grave for a chance at a normal life.

 

* * *

 

 

“So…” Shiro smiled at his brother, much too bright given the hour, in Keith’s opinion. “How was your night?” Since he’d slept at Matt’s house, he’d been forced to wait until they both got to work till he could interrogate his brother.

“Fine,” he said simply.

“Just fine?” Shiro frowned. “Nothing interesting happened? Really?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I was just following through to make sure Lance was alright. Anything more would be unprofessional.”

“You are a pillar of protocol around here, how could I forget,” he said, voice flat.

“Shut up,” he waved his hand as if to shoo Shiro away. “Shouldn’t you be in your office?”

He shrugged. “I can do what I want. Do you want to grab lunch together?”

It was odd that he would ask—it was assumed that they ate together every day. “Yes?” he raised a brow. “Why?”

“I don’t know, I was hoping you’d have other plans.”

“You’re insufferable.” Turning to file a report, he shook his head. “Besides, it’s not like—“

His phone rang.

No one ever called him.

He feared the shit-eating grin Shiro was surely sporting behind his back.

“You gonna answer that?”

“You gonna give me some privacy?”

He laughed. “Privacy? For a work call? Why ever would you need that?”

It rang on.

With a grunt, Keith spun about in his chair, picking up the phone before it could ring its last.

“This is Officer Kogane,” he began—maybe it wasn’t Lance?

“Keith?” Shit, it was.

“Hey,” he couldn’t help the smile, though he tried to quash it when Shiro waggled his eyebrows at him. “How are you, Lance?”

“Great! I hope it’s not too early for me to have called you?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m glad you called.” Shiro melted in the background.

Lance giggled. “Really? That’s sweet.” Keith flushed at the praise—was he being weird? “I was wondering, would you like to meet up sometime today? Lotor’s making good on not letting me leave the hotel, but he only said I couldn’t be alone. So, who better than a strong policeman to keep me safe? Plus, I’d love to get to know you better, anyway.”

“Really?” Did his voice just crack? Judging by Shiro’s strained cheeks, fighting to keep his laughter under wraps, it had. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, sure, when did you have it mind?”

“Well, I think we’re looking at some homes tonight after dinner, so what about lunch time?”

He hummed for a few seconds, flipping through papers as if to check a nonexistent schedule. “Yeah, lunch works. I could pick you up?”

“Sounds perfect! So, how’s your day looking so far?”

“Not too busy. Shiro’s being annoying as usual, though.”

Lance laughed. “You two are sweet. Tell him I say ‘hi’, alright?”

“Sure.”

“I have to get going—doctor’s appointment.”

“Are you alright?”

“Oh, yeah, don’t worry! In fact, when you see me, I may be out of my slings.”

“That’s great. I didn’t want to be too nosy, but I’m glad that your injuries are better.”

“I didn’t tell you the story? I guess it never came up,” Lance smiled. “You’re very easy to talk to, Keith.”

“Er, thank you. You’re probably the first person who’s said that to me.”

“Really? That’s weird. Anyway, Lotor and I got in an automobile collision while we were in Ba Sing Se. Both my arms got stuck under the chassis of the car—it was rather nasty, so I won’t go into details. But, they’re much better now! Still look a bit gruesome from the burns, but otherwise functional.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah! So, from now on I’ll hopefully be better able to fend for myself in the streets,” he laughed. “Actually, I think it’d be fun to try my hand at that sport they have here! What is it, again?”

“Pro-bending?” Keith frowned. “It’s pretty intense, Lance. But, I have a few friends who are on a team.”

“Really? How incredible! I’d love to meet them someday!”

“Oh, well, sure. I bet they’d like you.”

“What are they like?”

“Well, Hunk—he’s the earthbender—he runs a restaurant with a friend of his, he’s an amazing cook.” Shiro cleared his throat, tapping his watch-less wrist. “I’ll have to tell you more over lunch, I have to get to work.”

“Oh, of course! Sorry for holding you up! I’ll see you then, Keith!” With a click, the call ended.

“Sorry,” Shiro began. “But we do have a meeting. Besides, you should save some conversation points for your date.”

“It’s not a date.”

“Keith…”

“Fine, fine! Get out of my face, I’ll be right behind you.” With a nod, Shiro left him. Keith gathered up his notes and a pen for the meeting, trying and failing to hide the smile on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

Lance was certainly an animated individual, Keith noted. The way his every feature seemed to highlight his feelings, from his brows and other facial features to his flailing limbs that grew wilder with each sentence. Perhaps he thought Keith a good listener because he simply allowed him his space to speak? He could imagine that someone more verbose than himself wouldn’t be as compatible a lunch partner to Lance.

His arms seemed to be healthy enough, though they were still heavily bandaged—Lance explained it was due to the burns and scars which were “too unseemly for public consumption”. He was wearing something more typical to someone from the southern water tribe, beige pants and a long, navy blue sleeveless tunic slit down the side to allow for leg movement—which was to his advantage, as he even tended to wriggle his lower appendages as he spoke, as well.

One article of clothing was attracting a bulk of Keith’s attention, however, and he found himself praying Lance had meant it solely for ornamentation as opposed to its deeper meaning. While he wasn’t from either of the water tribes, pretty much everyone knew a betrothal necklace when they saw one. He didn’t know how to bring it up in a way that wouldn’t be rude, however, so he decided not to.

Lance couldn’t be engaged, he insisted to himself. They were constantly flirting, weren’t they?—or perhaps Keith had simply forgotten how to flirt? But, Lance _had_ to know what he was doing with his constant giggling and leaning and touching, didn’t he?

Keith’s schedule forced them to part sooner than he would’ve liked, and he walked Lance to his hotel as he had the night before.

“That was fun,” Lance smiled, hand caught on his doorknob.

“Yeah,” Keith cleared his throat. “So, you said you were house-hunting later?”

He nodded. “I’m not looking forward to it—I have no idea what’s considered a good deal, really. But, it’ll be up to Lotor, in the end.”

“You’ll live with him, then?”

“Yeah. It’s mainly his money that we’re living on, so it’s fair that he picks the place.”

“I see. You two aren’t… together, are you?”

Lance laughed. “Lotor and I? No. When we met, we discovered that we’re almost cousins—that’d be weird. Why do you ask?” he smirked, clearly knowing the source of Keith’s curiosity.

Keith looked down the hall, suddenly very interested in an ornate, carved vase near their door. A firm hand wrapped around his wrist stole his attention.

“Lotor’s got a few auditions all afternoon. Would you like to come in for dessert? Maybe coffee?”

“I don’t like coffee,” he replied. Lance opened the door, dragging him in.

“And I don’t have any dessert.” Keith shut the door behind them, following after Lance’s intoxicating eyes to the bedroom.

 

* * *

 

He was late, of course, but he couldn’t wipe the grin from his face as he slipped behind his desk hours after he’d left for a “quick lunch”. He wasn’t close to the others in his block, so no one really bothered to ask him why he was so late or why he looked so disheveled.

Lance sure was… something, he thought with a small smile. He was boisterous and fun and just seemed to ooze vivacity, things that were never said about Keith. On top of that, his body, _the sex_ … Keith may have become hooked off of a single afternoon. Judging by Lance’s responses, he thought it safe to assume that Lance was equally enamored; or, at the very least, he was attracted enough to Keith to agree to investing more time in their acquaintanceship.

He met up with Shiro at his apartment, as the elder brother had offered to cook them dinner for the night. Keith thought himself capable of hiding things, but in the face of Shiro, he was completely inept at secrets.

It started out fine; Shiro asked about the date, innocent questions such as the location and Lance’s health.

“So,” he continued, pausing his eating to look Keith in the eye. “I heard you were pretty late getting back from lunch.”

“I had to walk him home,” he shrugged. “His hotel is pretty far from HQ.”

“…and that you didn’t even yell at Nisha during your meeting.”

“She’s agreeable enough.”

“Keith, you don’t get along with anyone. She said that you _smiled_.”

“Never pegged her as a gossip. And you’re really gonna grill me for being happy?”

“This isn’t just a normal contentedness that would accompany a successful date.”

“How would you know? When’s the last time I had one of those?”

“I just have to ask—“

“You really don’t.”

“Top or bottom?”

“What the hell?”

“Matt and I have a bet going!” 

“Spirits, Shiro!” he was flushing, and getting redder by the second. “Quit jumping to conclusions!”

“I’m a detective, it’s what I do.”

“No it’s not! We use something called evidence.” It was almost pointless, he knew—besides, Shiro was his brother. He was about the only person he _could_ talk to about those kind of things. “I topped.”

“Nice,” he smiled, sticking out his fist for a bump. “I thought you two would be serious though?”

“Who says we won’t be?”

“He fucked you on the first date… you hardly know each other.”

“So?”

“I mean, I guess you could work something out between you two, but it seems like he wants something casual to me.”

Keith frowned. “You think?”

“You didn’t ask?”

“We were busy—“

Shiro held up a hand. “I get it.”

“Oh, you were so curious beforehand,” Keith chuckled. “Don’t want to know any of the details? Like how many times I made him—“

“Keith!” Shiro yelled, covering his ears with his hands. “My sweet, innocent brother, deflowered by a stranger.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m as much a virgin as you are.”

“You assume Matt and I have had sex?”

“You’ve lived together for three years.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Living in sin for much longer, too.”

“Gross.”

“So, you want to date him, then?”

“I mean, I’d like to continue to go on dates with him and maybe sleep with him as well.”

“That seems like dating.”

“Maybe I should’ve talked about that. I mean, I know at least he’s not dating his roommate. But, maybe he’ll want to be single now that he’s in a new city. We were literally like the first people he met—hardly the best way to pick a partner.”

“Well, don’t sell yourself short. You two were good together, from what I saw. What is it that you like about him?”

“He’s just… super… bright, I guess.”

“And that’s… good?”

He sighed. “I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. I just… when I’m around him I’m all dumb and smiley.” Shiro smiled at Keith’s soft look. “I mean, his jokes and lines are ridiculous—you’d have to spend more time with him to get it, this guy is a dork. He’s also kind of… unaware about everything, like he was super sheltered growing up or something, but it’s endearing?”

“But you hate helpless things.”

“I know! Children and puppies are just plain idiotic! And Lance, he’s almost like that, just innocent—well, in some ways—“

“Gross.”

“But it’s nice? Because he’s so hopeful about his future? He wants to be a pro-bender, Shiro, how precious is that?”

“Is he a good bender?”

He shrugged. “I know he’s a good enough healer, apparently. So, I’d assume that he knows enough to fight since that requires a lot of control. I couldn’t imagine him hurting a fly, though, could you?”

“People could surprise you.”

“Not Lance, he’s like an open book.”

“When are you gonna see him again?”

“Not sure. He’s looking for a house with his roommate, so he’ll be busy for a few days, he said. He was going to call me, though.”

Shiro nodded. “You know, I’m proud of you.”

“For having sex?”

“No! Well, sure. But, usually when you like someone, you get a little… creepy?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, not like, horrible… but you’ll use the database to look them up and stuff.”

“I do not!” he pouted, remembering the few situations in the past where he had in fact done just that. “Whatever, those were well-founded suspicions. Rolo was in a gang, if you’ve forgotten!”

“I know, I know. Anyway, I’m glad you told me all this.”

“You really didn’t give me a choice.”

“That’s true. Pass the dressing, could you?”

 

* * *

 

 

“…And then Shiro’s parents adopted me,” Keith concluded. He couldn’t believe he’d told Lance all about his reckless youth—they’d hardly known each other a week. Yet, he supposed they’d reached a certain level of intimacy. Lance was finally comfortable enough taking off his bandages around him, and while apparently Lotor would often help him tend his wounds and rub his aching muscles, already Keith had been granted the privilege of doing so in his place.

Lance was quiet at the end of his story, which was odd. While Lance was naturally talkative, he was respectful of the rare occasions when Keith chose to share for long periods of time. In the silences that followed, he was quick to offer a comment or two, smartly changing the subject whenever it appeared that Keith felt awkward for having shared so much. Keith was certainly feeling weird, but Lance failed to step in.

Instead of talking, Lance captured his attention in other ways. Soon the pair were tangled up on the bed, lazily kissing and just enjoying each other. A cleared throat split them in a flash.

“Lotor,” Lance smiled uneasily at his roommate. Apart from their meeting, Keith had yet to encounter the man. “You’re back early.”

“Yes, I apologize,” his icy glare was directed solely at Keith, softening when he turned to Lance. “How long will your friend be over?”

“Give us a second,” Lance removed himself from Keith’s lap and stood, grabbing Keith by his hand. He led them through the living room and out the door. Standing in the hallway, his smile appeared much less forced. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. It’s getting late anyway.”

Lance pouted. “I wanted you to stay…”

“Maybe it’s for the best. Don’t you have your housing interview tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah… I just don’t like sleeping alone.”

Keith swallowed, praying it wasn’t as loud as it sounded in his ears. While they’d spent a lot of time together and more than a few intimate embraces, they’d yet to actually spend a night together given their living situations. Keith technically didn’t live with his brother since he paid rent separately, but they were neighbors in their apartment complex—thin walls and a nosy brother prevented him from offering previously—and Lance obviously had Lotor to worry about. “You could come over to my place,” he offered.

“I wouldn’t want to impose,” he ran his hands over Keith’s shirt front, smoothing out any wrinkle he came across.

“It’s close to the office, if that helps.”

Lance hummed, eyes flashing. “You invite me over for the first time because of convenience, then?”

“I mean, I’d like it if you came over. It’s a mess, though, just to let you know.”

He laughed. “I don’t mind. Let me grab some of my things, then.”

Half an hour later, Lance was gaping at the state of Keith’s house. “This is disgusting.”

“It’s not that bad,” he insisted, hustling to clump together the various small piles of trash in his front room into one larger pile.

“You’ve got trash everywhere,” he sniffed.

“Well, compared to living in a hotel, I can see why you’d think I’m a slob.”

“Even then… I would never let things get so bad. You’re lucky you’re cute enough to attract someone sensible, Keith. You’d be absolutely hopeless on your own.”

He scoffed. “Oh, are you gonna help me, then, since you’re so sensible?”

“Don’t be silly. My sensible self would simply hire a maid.”

“I don’t have money for a maid.”

“Hm…” he ran a single finger over a side table, scrunching his nose up at the dust he lifted. He pinched his pointer finger to his thumb in an attempt to rid his skin of the grime. “Want to take a shower?”

Keith immediately perked up at that offer, guiding Lance toward his cramped bathroom without a question. Lance had a number of soaps and hair products he liked to use, which were only able to fit in his shower since Keith only had a single bottle of soap. They laughed as they scrubbed up, exchanging wet kisses and surprisingly keeping the groping to a minimum. Lance changed into his underwear and velvet robe while Keith threw on his usual sleeping shorts and called it good.

They snuggled up under his covers, settling into a comfortable enough position with Keith wrapped around Lance from behind.

“So…” Lance drummed his fingers over the arm Keith had draped over his chest. “I couldn’t help but notice…”

“What?”

“You had a few files on your table—more than a few really,” he rolled his eyes. “Got a tough case or something?”

Lance shifted in his arms, so Keith opened them to allow him to turn the other way. Facing Lance, he replied. “Yeah. It’s a bit ugly, and we don’t have a lot of leads.”

“Can I ask what it is?”

“Of course. A number of young people have gone missing lately, and their bodies have shown up pretty…” he trailed off.

“Pretty what?”

“Like I said, it’s gruesome.”

“I can handle it,” Lance assured.

“Alright. Well, when we find their bodies, they’re drained of blood entirely.”

Lance gasped. “Like by a vampire or something?”

“Similar to that. But, there’s never exit wounds, which makes it super weird.”

Wincing, Lance squirmed in Keith’s arms. “That’s creepy. How many people?”

“Four. Two of them went missing years ago, and their bodies were pretty old. But the other two went missing and were clearly killed recently.” Though in the back of his head he knew it to be a morbid subject, the detective in him was too caught up in the technicalities of the case to take heed of any potential disgust Lance may have felt. “Given the semi-recent streak of crime in the city, we’ve been bringing in a lot of criminal waterbenders as suspects.”

Lance pursed his lips at that comment. “Just because you had one bad waterbender doesn’t mean we’re all bad.”

“We know that, of course,” Keith said. “But, who else but a bloodbender could do such a thing?”

“It’ll be tough work figuring out who’s a bloodbender. I mean, how would you go about proving it?”

“We think we’d need another bloodbender to block their bending. If they were able to resist, then, that would mean they too could bloodbend.”

“Or they could simply fake it.”

“Is that right?”

“Sure, in an interrogation setting they could just not resist. You’d have to, for example, block their bending in a more dangerous situation that would force their hand.”

“Such a thing hardly sounds legal.”

Lance shrugged.

“You said you were trained classically in healing, right?”

He nodded.

“Do you have any insights, then, knowing what you do about waterbending?”

“If you’re asking me about further familiarity with bloodbending, I fear I must stop you.” His tone was harsh, cold. “Where I’m from, such a perversion of our art is considered worse than a mere crime, as you think so here. The use of this technique is punishable by death. Just mentioning it, even, could warrant arrest so as to ensure that no other person could possibly learn of it.”

“Oh,” Keith frowned, sensing Lance’s evident dismissal of the topic. “I’m sorry for bringing it up.”

He sighed loudly. “Don’t apologize, I asked you to speak on it, didn’t I? I just… well, the way we were brought up in my village, bloodbending was such a taboo—we couldn’t even say the word outside the home! And now, with the resurgence of practitioners, it taints our way of life, and thus is even more persecuted. I wish I could help you, but if there were a person from the tribes who was a bloodbender, I couldn’t speak on them other than that they must be a rather deplorable person to use it in such a horrible way.”

Keith raised a brow. “’In such a horrible way’? Are there less horrible ways?”

Lance turned around, his back to Keith. “You’re too quick, sometimes.”

“What do you mean by that, then? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

“Well… bloodbending in and of itself isn’t malicious, if you’re familiar with it. I know, of course, that the more prolific users engage in awful actions. But, if you think about it, bloodbending could have a lot of good use. It could help healers clot wounds, restore life to dead limbs, revive people, even, if you believe in that.”

“I’d… never really thought of it that way.”

“I was trained traditionally in healing, as I told you. A lot of our practices look to bloodbending as a golden standard, if you will. Obviously, we don’t reach that level, it was simply a discussion of theory, but when we heal, we imagine that kind of energy, that power, in order to draw out bacteria and the like.” He shook his head. “I was told by my master that the first healer was in fact a bloodbender. She used her abilities to save lives, not to hurt them as it’s often associated with these days.”

Keith wasn’t sure what to say, so he remained silent.

“I’m not sure if you’re studied on bending theory,” Lance continued, nonplussed. “But, if you’re unable to find a bloodbender from among waterbenders, perhaps you should look to earthbenders. They say that blood contains metal, you know, and depending on what school of thought you buy into about what compound it is that is bendable by earthbenders—be it solid rock or simply molecular components—it could be possible that a skilled earthbender could bend the iron in blood and themselves be a bloodbender. Similarly, if it is the case that airbenders can in fact manipulate oxygen, they too could could control oxygenated blood.”

“That’s terrifying.”

Lance laughed. “It is, isn’t it? I wonder if I’ll live to see the day that these distinctions of bendable elements are made.”

Up to that point, Keith had believed Lance to be rather ignorant of worldly things. They’d go to restaurants and he’d have no idea how to act; they’d talk of things like bills and rent and he’d be completely hopeless. However, looking back at their conversations, when it came to theories, be they political, militant, or, apparently, chemical, he acted a savant. It was clear, then, that his education had been superior growing up. Given the wealth that he and Lotor flaunted, Keith presumed that they were upper class teens who’d simply run away from home.

“What of fire, then?” Keith asked.

“Now that’s a particularly interesting question. Fire, as it is, is simply energy, heat and light released due to oxidation of combustible materials. It’s possible that firebenders simply bend this very potent energy source—so could a skilled person bend others’ bodies? There’s lightningbending, of course, which is just more volatile energy being manipulated. Fire and lightning are rather large sources of energy, but there are smaller ones all about us. In our bodies, there are small units that use energy—could you imagine if a fire-slash-energy bender could control those operations? You’d die in minutes!”

“But energybending exists already, doesn’t it? For avatars?”

Lance nodded. “Sure. There are two trains of thoughts, either than that is simply an extension of the other bendings, or that there is some other bending unique to the spirit realm. I’ve had my fair share of interactions with spirits, but I’m still completely clueless as to them. I’m honestly not sure how to group them, as a result. Are they energy? Or are they a completely new entity? I just don’t know.”

“So, from what you’re saying… any bender could be a bloodbender?”

“Perhaps, if certain theories are true—but, they _are_ simply theories. It may mean nothing if they’re false.”

“Do you think we’re unfairly targeting waterbenders?”

He shrugged. “It’s been known to happen before, in the wake of Amon.”

“He did train in the north; it’s possible, then, that there are other masters there that we don’t know about.”

“Well, the northern water tribe is so different from the southern, so I can’t speak to it. I’d say that they’ve fallen far from the south’s more peaceable ways—I mean, just look at their last chief who almost destroyed the world!”

“I see. The north is odd, I can’t keep up with their politics. Who’s the chief nowadays?”

“Alfor,” Lance replied easily. “Eska and Desna were too young to lead, so it was logical that their father’s advisor step in.”

“Logical? Or perhaps opportunistic?”

He shrugged. “Perhaps.”

“I was under the impression that it was still rather unstable.”

“That’s a proper impression. Another of Unalaq’s advisors was his war general, Zarkon, who also thought he had right to the throne. Of course, now he serves under Alfor, well enough.”

“You know a good deal of northern politics.”

“Why wouldn’t I? You in Republic City forget of other cultures and histories.”

“That’s fair. Have you visited the north?”

“I haven’t.”

“Is the south nearly as politically charged?”

“Oh, not at all. People flee from being chief, honestly, and titles and wealth mean little. We’re all viewed as equal.”

“Sounds idyllic.”

He smiled softly. “It’s nice. So, back to your case: do you have any plans other than scapegoating the waterbender population?”

“When you put it like that…”

“…I’m being truthful?”

He sighed. “What do you want us to do, then? Look up every bender in the city?”

“Or, maybe better understand how else your victims may have come to their unfortunate ends.”

“Such as?”

“Maybe visit a morgue for that, or a doctor. They could surely offer some insight that you aren’t familiar with.”

He paused. It wasn’t a horrible idea. “Fine, I’ll consult with them.”

Lance smiled. “Brilliant idea, if I do say so myself.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but drew him against his chest anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

Another three bodies had appeared in the next two weeks, and HQ was overwhelmed with reported suspects. A body had been located in a public park, and so the press had caught wind of the story; from then, people were accusing neighbors, enemies, even business rivals of being a bloodbender, whether or not they were actually benders. Thankfully they were able to pass over most of the dropped names due to lack of evidence, but it still led to a lot of filing that Keith feared was detracting from the investigation.

Amid the chaos, Shiro was invited to attend a Gala with the higher ups in the Force as well as city officials; naturally, the Avatar would also be there, Korra having just returned from her trip to the spirit world. Her arrival would surely be reassuring to the population, at the least, though Keith wasn’t looking forward to the event itself. He figured he’d be assigned as additional security, or even worse, invited as a guest of Shiro.

As expected, he was given the boring task of standing guard at the front door of the venue, forcing him to cancel an evening out with Lance.

“So,” Keith continued, bending over to collect his pants from their spot on the ground. “It’s gonna suck, if that’s any consolation.”

Lance pouted. “Why would I want you to be miserable? But it’s fine, I understand you can’t get out of this. We’ll just have to reschedule for another day.”

He nodded. Checking the clock, he figured he had a few minutes to spare before his morning meeting—thankfully Lance’s new manor was in the same district as HQ so their meetings were allowed to last just that much longer. Without asking—such was his level of comfort in Lance’s home—he stopped in the bathroom to freshen up, patting down his hair and making sure his clothes were in a proper state.

Once satisfied, he pressed a quick kiss to Lance’s cheek before heading out. Lotor hadn’t returned home the night before as he was out socializing with a director who’d quickly become infatuated with him and was dying to have him in one of his movers, so Keith didn’t have to worry about any awkward encounters. Lotor had slowly started getting used to Keith, though, his withering glares reduced to nothing more than taut pout, but Keith still preferred to keep his interactions with the man to an absolute minimum.

Once at work, he was dismayed to see Shiro seated at his desk.

“What?” he asked.

“No ‘good morning’ for your dear brother?” Shiro crossed his arms.

“If you’re here to say what I think you’re going to say, don’t.”

“If you know already what needs to be said, you should’ve already done it.”

“I won’t do it. If it’s so important to you, why can’t you do it?”

“Because I’m not the one in charge of questioning suspects. You are.” With a firm hand, he shoved a short stack of files toward Keith.

Keith grumbled to himself but picked up the files all the same; he already knew the names that would be facing him.

“It’ll be worse the longer you put it off.”

“He’ll hate me for this.”

“Keith,” Shiro’s voice took on a hard edge. “As your superior I order you to take care of questioning Lance and Lotor. Today.”

“Are you serious? I left his bed this morning!”

“Then you know him, Keith. All you have to do is prove that he’s innocent.”

“You’re a real dick, you know that?”

“Sergeant Dick to you,” he laughed. Keith didn’t truly begrudge Shiro for the orders; it was only fair that he actually do his job. Lance and Lotor’s names had been dropped as potential suspects almost a week before, and their lack of records made the claims plausible enough that they had to go through the first round of questions. Keith had been avoiding it for as long as possible, but it seemed his luck had finally run out.

Rustling up the proper papers and two of his fellow detectives, he made his way back to the familiar manor. He knocked—something he usually didn’t do, actually, since he knew where Lance hid the key.

He heard Lance long before he answered the door; despite his lanky frame the man had a surprisingly heavy step. After unlatching and fumbling with the locks for a few seconds, the door swung inwards to reveal Lance, still in his robe from earlier.

“Keith!” he grinned. “What a pleasant surprise! Back for more?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m clearly here with people.”

“I see that. Very bold, but I’m up for whatever.”

Keith chose to ignore the snickers behind him. “Can we come in?”

“Of course!” he stepped to the side and welcomed the trio with a flourish of his arm. “Show them to the parlor, would you? I’ll put on some tea.”

Keith nodded, ushering the others to the mentioned room. Lance had only decided on the furniture the day before, so it was the first time Keith had seen it completed. The house in general was very modern, but Lance had preferred more traditional furnishings and décor. Keith settled on one of the armchairs while his peers sat on a small sofa, leaving a chair directly across from him for Lance.

He joined them not long after, bearing a tray with a pot and four cups. “Sorry for the mess—we haven’t had the chance to interview potential staff members. No doorman or cook or maids at all!”

“It’s alright,” one of his peers reassured. “You have a lovely home.”

Lance waved his hand. “Oh, don’t tease me! I haven’t even finished decorating yet!” He sipped at his tea. “My roommate’s been completely useless with helping me, too. I tried asking Keith for some advice, but all of his furniture comes unassembled in a box so he was even worse!” He leaned toward the woman, making a show of his next words. “He couldn’t tell a Dragonhearth desk from a Zulon!”

She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. “Some people.”

“Well,” Keith interjected. “If we’re done laughing at my expense, we’re actually here to ask you a few questions, Lance.”

“Is this about that nasty bloodbending case?”

“That’s right.”

“I had wondered what was taking you so long to question us!”

“You were?”

He nodded. “Of course! I mean, we’re a bit of a suspicious pair, and waterbenders to boot. I kind of thought maybe you didn’t see me as a threat!”

“Are you saying that you are?”

“No,” he laughed. “Don’t be silly. Anyway, I’m glad that you weren’t just sleeping for me as some kind of undercover investigation.”

He flushed. “That would be completely unethical.”

“They don’t think it’s a conflict of interest that you’re questioning me?”

“Since I brought the rest of my team, they don’t care.”

“I see. Well, ask away! After, I’ll give you the address where Lotor’s working so you can see him, too.”

“That would be great, thank you.” He cleared his throat. “We’ll start with the more recent dates. Where were you on the night of the fourth?”

He hummed. “Was that a Friday?” Keith nodded. “Oh, we were together, weren’t we? That was the night we walked along the docks! We had those really yummy fried… er… whatever they were.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Keith jotted down the note. “And the twenty-eighth?”

“I was at a dinner with Lotor, I believe. We were celebrating finding this place.”

“Prior to Republic City, where did you reside?”

“I was in Ba Sing Se for about two months.”

“Why?”

“You already know this, Keith.”

“I know, but for the record.”

He sighed. “After I left the south, I made my way to Ba Sing Se. I needed a bank that was willing to cash the checks I had brought, as well as to buy the goods I’d inherited. The bank I wound up using belonged to Lotor’s family, actually.”

“In Ba Sing Se, you were in an accident, correct?”

“Yes, when I injured my arms.”

“And those records of the accident and your hospital visit—we would find them should we enquire after them?”

Lance’s hand tensed. “Records?”

“Yes, official documentation.”

“Um, well, I’m not sure. The car was on private property—Lotor’s family estate—so we didn’t press charges. And, I’m a healer, so we didn’t think it necessary to see a doctor.”

“So there’s no evidence of this?”

“I mean, you could call his family and ask them. The car was totaled, so their mechanic could confirm it. And, you met me when I was hurt, Keith. Do you think I’m lying about that? I was in slings for so long!”

“Not too long, given the damage you incurred.”

“I’m a good healer, Keith,” his tone was growing sharp. “I’m not sure what this has to do with your current investigation.”

“I’m sorry, Lance, it’s simply because you have so few records in the City.”

“Whatever. Anything else?”

“Have you ever bloodbended?”

“Excuse me?” he yelled.

“Have you bloodbended?”

“I’m insulted that you’d even ask!” he scoffed. “Of course I haven’t!”

“And Lotor?”

“No, he’s a horrible bender, anyway.”

“Was he also trained in healing, as you were?”

“No. He wasn’t.”

“Tell me about your family.”

Lance froze. It was a sore point, Keith knew. He rarely talked about them at all. “What about them?”

“Are they living? Any other benders?”

“My step-father passed recently, he was a firebender. My mother wasn’t a bender, nor are any of my three siblings. My half-sister is a waterbender, as is our father. I don’t speak with them, however.”

“They’re why you left the tribe?”

“After my step-father passed, my mother was unable to provide for all of us, so I moved in with my father to make things easier on her. My father is… strict, very demanding. His daughter also was not very kind to me, as she hadn’t even known I existed. She didn’t like that her father doted on me, and she was cruel at times. I left because the environment was stifling.”

“And Lotor? How did you two meet?”

“We met in Ba Sing Se at a party. He wanted to leave his family for Republic City as well.” He set down his cup and saucer. “I really don’t feel comfortable with this, Keith. Just because I haven’t told you everything about me doesn’t mean I’m some murderer! You don’t see me pushing you to share when you don’t want to.”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “This is why I put this off for so long. I promise this will be over soon.”

“Sir,” his coworker interrupted. “Given his clear alibi during the murders, I think it’s safe to leave him be for now, assuming he can prove the period of time he spent in Ba Sing Se.”

“I have receipts, I think. From shopping trips—they have the city seal. Would that work?”

Keith nodded. “That would be perfect.”

“I’ll go fetch them, then.” He stood, sweeping out of the room without another word.

Keith sighed, slumping back. “He hates me.”

His coworkers looked on in pity, not sure if he wanted any consolation—Keith tended to not let those he worked with so privy to his affairs. So, they let him stew over his emotions, chatting idly with each other while waiting on Lance.

Minutes later, he was back with a decorative lacquered box. Sitting, he propped it in his lap before opening the lid. He laid several velvet bags on the table—Keith assumed they contained jewelry—then rifled through the tall stack of thin papers. Smiling victoriously, he removed several receipts as well as a punched train ticket. “Ah! And here’s the train ticket we used to get here from Ba Sing Se!” He passed all the papers to Keith, who inspected them closely.

A silent minute passed before he returned the items. “These check-out. Thank you, Lance.” He cleared his throat, realizing the awkwardness of the situation.

“You’ll be wanting Lotor’s address, then?”

“That would be best, thank you.”

While Lance relayed the information, Keith headed toward the front door, fully intending to show himself out. His peers followed suit, but before they could head down the front steps, Lance called out to him.

“Keith?” he was hesitant, unsure.

Turning, Keith signaled for his partners to go on ahead. Lance crossed the few steps between them. “Yes?”

“Look, I’m sorry for being snippy… I just… kinda wanted to tell you things about myself in my own time, you know? On my terms. I’ve liked that we were taking things slowly, building up the trust.”

Slowly? Keith frowned. They slept with each other on the first date, and Lance thought they were taking things slow? Spirits, the night before he’d wanted to tell Lance that he loved him; it was one of the fastest relationships he’d ever been in. “It’s understandable that you’d be upset. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you at our own pace as well, and I didn’t enjoy making you uncomfortable.”

Lance smiled. “I’ll see you soon, Keith.” Leaning forward, he kissed Keith’s cheek before patting it twice with his hand. “Don’t have too much fun at the dance tonight.”

“Trust me, I won’t,” he groaned. “Can I come by afterwards?”

“I don’t see why not.”

One last kiss and Lance went back inside, stopping only to wave sweetly, which Keith returned. He ignored his coworker’s obnoxious comments for the rest of their walk to Lotor, surprised that they were suddenly so emboldened so as to tease him.

Where he fully trusted Lance, Lotor aroused a bit more suspicion, not only in Keith but in his partners. Despite his aspirations to be an actor, he couldn’t seem to hide things: his story matched Lance’s well enough, except when it came to the accident. Still, he gave them the number of his relatives who could supposedly corroborate their story.  

Hours later, Keith had compiled the evidence and even managed to get ahold of the family, who clued him into why Lotor may have been more tight-lipped about their accident. It turned out he’d been a bit inebriated while behind the wheel, and they’d all made an effort to keep things hush hush. Lance had been knocked out at the time of the accident, waking up on the estate two days afterward, so Keith figured he hadn’t been aware of anything—he knew such an assumption was foolish, that he was letting his emotions cloud his judgement, but even the detective side of him didn’t think Lance capable of acting so duplicitous. As he’d noticed during their brief relationship, Lance was lacking in street smarts; it would be out of character for him to successfully hide anything, especially from someone as close to him as Keith.

His partners had gone home for the night, though their deeper investigation of Lotor was far from over. They didn’t have any evidence that would prompt an arrest, but they still wanted to put together the puzzle that was his mysterious past. Keith would’ve preferred staying in the office all day, but unfortunately he had the gala to attend. He met up with his brother so they could ride together in Matt’s car.

“How was everything?” Shiro asked once they settled into their seats.

“It was going fine, then it got weird, but then he was alright. I just don’t trust that Lotor guy.”

“He and Lance are cousins or something, right?”

“Close family, at the least; I think Lance has said they’re ‘like cousins’.”

“Why don’t you trust him?”

“His irresponsible actions are the reason Lance was hurt in Ba Sing Se. Plus, he’s too controlling of Lance.”

“Well, what’s that got to do with the case?”

“Nothing, for now. But I’m worried.”

“You should remain focused. Let your partners look into Lotor, but in the meantime you should follow up on that lead from my guy.”

“I was planning on doing that tomorrow.”

Shiro nodded. “Good.”

“And how’s your special project coming along?”

He sighed. “It’s horrible! I wasn’t high up back when President Wu was here—I had no idea the amount of security involved when leaders come to visit.”

“Remind me who’s coming again.”

“It’s like you don’t even pay attention in briefings! The Princess of the Northern Water Tribe, Allura, as well as the royal advisor, Coran.”

“Why not the Chief himself?”

“He mentioned something about an unstable situation, so he himself can’t leave the North. Princess Allura and Coran, however, are both pretty powerful in their own right. Beifong imagines that they’re seeking allies in Republic City to support his claim to power.”

“Don’t tell me there’s another war coming.”

“I sure hope not. I’m not even familiar enough with the situation to know who would be the best leader, honestly.”

“There are two major figures,” Matt finally spoke up. “Alfor, the current Chief, who advised Unalaq and took over when his children Desna and Eska were voted out by the council due to their age.”

“Surely they’re bitter about that?”

“Actually, from what I’ve heard, both were rather relieved. Alfor has them on the Council, still, though they’ve traveled a lot instead of tending to the Tribe. The main problem is Zarkon, a general and fellow Councilmember. He thinks he should’ve been Chief, though he hasn’t spoken against Alfor… yet. Because the two families weren’t officially royals, there isn’t a ton of chatter about them. All I know is that Alfor has one legitimate daughter in Allura while Zarkon had a son.”

“’Had’?”

“Deceased, sadly, just a year ago.” He lowered his voice, though it wasn’t as if anyone but them could hear him anyway. “It was so scandalous, you know. Apparently, he was to wed one of Alfor’s illegitimate children, but the other young man was on trial for some horrible crime—murder, or something? I can’t quite recall.”

“Wait, Alfor’s bastard?”

“Yeah! Allura’s mother passed away not long after she was born. At the time, Alfor took a lover from the village, and had a kid by her. He knew about him, housed him for summers growing up. I guess Allura was a bit of a jerk to him, though, so he’d leave for his village home, way far away from the castle. For his education, though, he came back to the palace, which is how he met his betrothed.”

“Zarkon’s kid?”

“That’s right! Oh, funny enough, Allura’s aunt—her mother’s sister—was Zarkon’s advisor and the mother of his child, so the two were sort of related, though not through blood. Of course, an arranged marriage like that for royals is hardly odd.”

“Why would two men competing for the throne want their kids married?”

Matt shrugged. “Some say the two actually quite liked each other.”

“The one who was convicted for a crime… what happened?”

Matt opened his mouth to answer, then paused. “You know, I actually don’t recall. My coworker who told me all this left before that ended, and she never followed up. I’ll have to ask her.”

“What was the crime?”

“I wanna say treason, but I’m not sure—why would he act against his father? That’d be ridiculous.”

“I thought you said murder?”

“It also could’ve had something to do with bloodbending—“

“What?” Keith’s yell flooded the car. “Bloodbending?”

“—or maybe just normal murder? Don’t cite me on this—“

“Matt, I need you to talk to your guy and get me all the information you can about this person, name, whether they’re alive or not. Of course, it’s easy to fake a death, too.”

“Keith, buddy, slow down a bit,” Shiro turned in his seat to watch his brother.

“—And Zarkon’s kid, too, a bit suspicious that he up and died, too.”

“It’s a very politically charged situation, and children can often end up as pawns. Why, we don’t even know if Allanse was guilty, for one, it could’ve been a ploy.”

“Allanse?”

“Alfor’s kid. Did I not mention the name?”

“No, you hadn’t.”

“Oh, well, there you have it.”

“Would it be possible for me to speak with Princess Allura when she’s here? For the investigation?”

“I highly doubt it.”

“Damn,” Keith sighed, leaning back.

“I’ll try and get the info you need,” Matt assured. “Though, just know it may take some time. Since the whole Unalaq debacle, travel to the North for non-citizens has been nearly impossible!”

“Is that so?”

He nodded. “Oh yeah. There are trade embargoes, limited contact orders; it’s why my peer had to leave, actually, ‘cause it was getting really dangerous.”

“How are people not talking about this? That sounds awful!”

“Well, it’s not really the Republic’s place.”

“This is how tyrants rise to power!”

“Or it’s how they’ll find their proper leader and peace.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Well, it’s certainly not our place as police officers to have an opinion on foreign diplomatic matters,” Shiro said.

“It’s every citizen’s place to have an opinion!”

“Perhaps, then, it’s not our place to _act_ on them. Or even voice them.”

“Shiro,” Matt began. “You can’t fault him for caring.”

“He doesn’t know enough of the situation to care! We’re too far from it.”

“Do you know something I don’t, Shiro?”

“Of course I know things. I’m to be Allura’s bodyguard while she’s here. And, I know enough to tell you that you shouldn’t approach her. Go ahead and investigate through Matt, but not through the family.”

“Dating a cop is the _worst_ ,” Matt pouted.

“Dating a journalist isn’t much better.”

“At least I’m not hiding things from you.”

“It’s a matter of international security.”

“Rude.”

Shiro rolled his eyes. “So, what are you going to do, Keith?”

“Keep my mouth shut, apparently.”

“Well, I hope you don’t mind if I run a story on the Princess’s visit.”

“I knew you would, just don’t interview me for anything.”

“Fine, fine. I have my other sources, anyway.” Matt glanced in the mirror and sent Keith a wink. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, yet, Keith, don’t you worry.”

“Thanks. Hey, speaking of sketchy contacts, how’s your sister?”

Matt laughed. “Oh, she’s fine. Still working at Future Industries, causing general mayhem in the city.”

“The season’s coming up, too. Are she and Hunk ready?”

“You haven’t talked to them?” Shiro frowned.

“I’ve been busy.”

“Oh, that’s right, the victim from a few weeks ago!” Matt grinned. “Pidge was dying of laughter when I told her you were banging someone so careless.”

“Shiro!” Keith chided his brother for over-sharing, once more, about _his_ own life.

“Anyway, it was a spot of fun for her, so don’t be too upset. Her and Hunk are in a bit of a bind.”

“Oh? What’s wrong?”

“Their waterbender up and quit on them, and their first match is in a week!”

“That sucks. What are they gonna do?”

“Well, if their opponents aren’t total assholes, they may agree to reschedule, but since these are the big leagues, it’s unlikely. They’ll have to forfeit.”

“That’s unfair! Why’d she quit?”

“Not sure, to be honest. You’d have to ask Pidge or Hunk, though I feel they were a bit confused about it, too.”

“Didn’t Lance mention wanting to join a team?”

“It’d be reckless to throw him into Hunk and Pidge’s league as a rookie. They’re amazing!”

“Why Keith, you never compliment them!”

“Just don’t mention it to them and I won’t have to kill you.”

He laughed. “You know, they’re having auditions all week at the yard. You should bring your boy toy around sometime.”

“I’ll mention it to him. I still don’t think it’s a great idea, though.”

“Keith, I’m sure Lance can handle himself.”

“He was robbed by a ten-year-old!”

“Yeah, when he had two busted arms!”

“Whatever, maybe we’ll swing by tomorrow, then. What time?”

“They get there around six, stay till Pidge gets bored, so it’s variable.”

“Is Hunk working at the bar tonight?”

“He is. Why?”

“Maybe I’ll pay him a visit tonight, first.”

“Good idea; make sure they haven’t found anyone first.” He pulled his car to the side of the road, having finally arrived at the venue. A valet approached the driver’s side window, and the trio left for the party.


	4. Chapter 4

Keith took his post as required and waited out the affair. He saw more drunk socialites and cops than he’d ever hoped to see in his lifetime, and a few hours later he was happy to bid adieu to Shiro and Matt as he headed a few blocks toward the docks for Hunk’s restaurant and bar.

He slipped through the sizable crowd and went straight for the bar. Hunk was busy serving a small party, smiling and cracking jokes as he always did. Keith noticed a familiar figure on her favorite stool and so sat next to her before trying to get Hunk’s attention.

“You’re not old enough to drink, young lady.”

She turned, glaring. “I’ve been eighteen for months, you pig.”

He laughed. “Good to see you too, Pidge.”

“If I wasn’t so happy that you found someone who can tolerate your ass for more than a night, I’d punch you.” She punched him—lightly—regardless. “When are you going to bring the lucky guy around, anyway? Hunk’s been dying to meet him!”

“Soon. Tomorrow, maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“Yeah. Um, Matt told me about your problem.”

“That’s hardly your business—the doctor said it should die down on its own—“

“What? I meant your pro-bending problem!”

“Oh, well,” she cleared her throat. “Right. What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Lance—”

“Ooh…” she nudged Keith’s shoulder with a sharp elbow. “That’s one of the gayest names I’ve ever heard.”

“—anyway, Lance is a waterbender. And he has aspirations to be a pro-bender.”

She rolled her eyes. “Keith, buddy, pal. Think with your head for a sec, not your dick. Hunk and I are—how do I put this—extremely strong contenders to win the championship this year. You want to throw a rookie at me, just ‘cause you’re dating? Is he any good?”

“Uh, I’ve actually never seen his bending.” Her mouth fell open. “But! He’s well-versed in bending theory—he’s actually really smart. And he was trained as a healer, so that’s gotta count for something right?”

She hummed. “Perhaps. At the very least, I’ll humor you the try-out, but I’m not gonna be soft on him, alright?”

“Same.”

“Gross!” she chuckled. “You sticking around? I’m a bit tipsy and may be generous enough to buy you a drink or two.”

“I shouldn’t. I’m meeting up with Lance.”

“Tell me about him, so I’m better prepared. What kind of guy has finally whipped Keith so?”

“Shut up.” He smiled. “I think you guys will like him. He’s sweet, a bit annoying, but it’s… charming. We’ve known each other for so short a time, but I just feel like I can really open up to him, you know? Like I’ve told him everything—“

“Everything everything?”

“Everything,” he repeated. Pidge whistled. “And he’s funny, kind, a bit naïve, though, but that’s his only fault—and how can that even be a fault?”

“You sound like you’re in love.”

“I might be, honestly.”

“Hunk!” Pidge yelled. The barkeep immediately turned toward her. “Get us two of your fruitiest cocktails, Keith here has fallen in love!”

“That’s great!” he cheered, bending down to grab a bottle. “How’s champagne, instead?”

“I can’t afford that!” Pidge whined.

“On the house! It’s bottom-shelf, anyway.” In front of them, Hunk popped the bottle open and produced two flutes. “What’s his name?”

“Lance.”

“Ooh, cool name! What’s he do?”

“Er, nothing, really. He’s kind of… just rich.”

“Oh? That doesn’t bother you?” Hunk poured the first glass, sliding it to Pidge who immediately knocked it back.

“Why would it?”

Pidge scoffed. “Everyone knows you hate snooty rich snobs.”

“He’s not snooty, though. Did you miss me saying he was nice?”

“So he’s just spoiled then?”

“I mean, sure—“

“Did he grow up here?”

“No, he’s from the Southern Water Tribe—“

“Ooh, tundra fever strikes again,” Pidge cackled.

Hunk at least wasn’t intent on teasing his friend. “What brought him here?”

“He wanted to get away from his family, enjoy the city life.”

“Does he plan to stay here long?”

He’d never thought to ask, actually. “I’m not sure.”

“He wants to be a pro-bender,” Pidge inserted.

“Is that right?” Hunk smiled. “Well, we could introduce him to some of the rookie recruiters—“

“Keith is making us give him a try-out.”

“Really? Well, if you think he’s good…”

“Again, I don’t know about his bending.”

“What?” Hunk gasped. “You do realize we’re serious about this, right? That it’s not just a fun hobby for us?”

“I know, and Lance can be serious about things!”

“At the very least, maybe we’ll find a rich sponsor,” Pidge grinned.

“Don’t use him like that,” Keith frowned. “Just, keep an open mind, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, Hunk, still want those cocktails since the wine is free, by the way.”

“You’re insufferable. I hope Lance is our guy—Pidge has been drinking my whole stock since Frey left.”

“Why’d she leave?”

“I actually found out the real reason today!” Pidge said. “For a while, she was super distracted at practice, seemed sad—or worried? Anyway, she quit and never said why or talked to us again. I bumped into her brother, though, and turns out her whole family is moving. This stuff with the bloodbending murderer, or whatever, it really spooked them! Apparently one of the bodies found belonged to her younger sister who’d gone missing a year ago.”

“That’s horrible.” He regarded the liquid in his cup. “But also suspicious that they’d up and leave.”

“Keith…” Hunk warned. “She lost her sister.”

“I know, I know. But, to flee before the investigation is over?”

“I can’t blame them. It’s honestly kind of freaky. Plus, a few waterbenders in the league say the whole vibe of the city is growing hostile. I couldn’t imagine losing a family member and then being treated as a suspect just because of my bending.”

Keith sighed. “Yeah, yeah, cops are evil. I get it.”

Pidge raised a glass. “The man finally gets it!”

“Don’t be mean to Keith,” Hunk shook his head at Pidge.

“He knows I’m only teasing. Hey, do you think your boyfriend’s roommate could get us tickets to that new mover coming out soon?”

“I can ask, I suppose.”

“Nice.”

Since it had been some weeks since Keith had met up with his friends, he stayed out a bit later and drank a bit more than he’d originally intended. Despite—or perhaps because of—his state, he rose to his feet just after midnight, swaying slightly, and proclaiming to the pair that he was going off to “cuddle the shit out of my boyfriend”. They both cheered him on, and he felt all the confidence the bottle of champagne and a handful of cocktails could offer him.

Slinking through the rich part of town late at night probably wasn’t Keith’s greatest idea, though at the time he thought himself brilliant, both spontaneous and romantic. He didn’t even think that Lance might be asleep already when he rang the doorbell.

After a few minutes, no one answered, so he sought the hidden key. Retrieving it from the fake rock was much harder compared to when he was sober, but he still managed and was able to unlock the door. He slipped out of his shoes—he wasn’t a barbarian—and tossed his jacket on a small side table.

All the lights were off, so he shuffled toward Lance’s room, taking care not to bump any furniture or make too much noise. While he thought he was being stealthy, eventually he was caught, just shy of Lance’s door.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Lotor looked like a ghost, white cream on his face and a white robe swaying around him—Keith barely even screeched.

“Oh! Hey,” he said, hoping he sounded suave. “Just looking for Lance.”

“I wasn’t aware he was expecting you so late.”

“I, uh…”

“I can smell the liquor from here. We don’t really drink in this house.”

 _Probably because_ your _drinking hurt Lance_ , drunk Keith wanted to say; thankfully, he bit his tongue. “I can leave, if that’s better.”

“No, it’s fine. Lance seems to like you well enough. Just wait in his room, I’ll get him for you.”

Keith obeyed, not thinking it odd at all that Lotor returned to his own room at the end of the hall. He laid down, immediately regretting the decision. It was like all night he’d been walking away from the drink, and all of a sudden it was catching up with him. He groaned and a chuckle from the doorway was his reply.

“I hope you weren’t drinking on the job,” Lance mused. He approached the bed, though Keith didn’t feel like turning his head to watch.

“No, I went out after.”

“That’s good.” Lance turned on his bedside lamp then settled next to Keith, propping his head up on his hand. “I was getting worried you forgot about me.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Keith said. “I went to the bar to see my friends.”

“Hunk, right? And Pidge?”

He nodded. “Pidge made me drink a whole bottle of wine.”

He tutted. “You poor thing,” he teased. “Do you need water?”

“I chugged a pitcher before I left the bar, I should be fine.”

“Responsible,” he giggled. “How was the gala?”

“Boring as hell.” He snuggled further into the comfort of the pillows. “Oh! Before I forget! Are you free tomorrow night?”

“I was hoping to go on a hot date with a cop, but I can cancel.”

“What?” Keith snapped. “Who?”

“You get so dumb when you’re drunk! It’s cute!”

“Oh, thank you.”

“What’s tomorrow, then?”

“Hunk and Pidge agreed to let you try-out for their bending team.”

Lance gasped. “Oh my gosh, really?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s amazing! You told them about me?”

“Of course.”

Lance shot forward, catching Keith in a tight embrace. “That’s so sweet. Don’t worry, Keith! I’ll be sure to make you proud.” He pulled back, grinning brightly. “Will you come to watch me?”

“I’ll try to, but the investigation is getting pretty time-consuming. A lot of people to interview, but still no suspects so we keep having to go back to the beginning.”

“Oh, well, that’s fine. Thanks for this, it means a lot.”

Lance shut off the light, and Keith was out in less than a minute.

“He’s not very smart, is he?” Lotor asked from the doorframe.

“He’s drunk.”

“I did what you told me to when he came, by the way.”

Lance nodded. “Thank you. It’ll be better if he’s suspicious of you than of me.” His fingers brushed aside Keith’s unruly bangs.

Lotor sighed. “Well, consider us even, then.”

“You’ve done so much more for me than that… as if I could ever pay you back.”

“Don’t go getting guilty on me. I’ve done everything because I wanted to, because you deserved it.”

“Thank you.”

“Love you, Lance.”

“Love you, too, Lotor.”

Lotor shut the door behind him and returned to his room for the night. Lance nestled himself against Keith’s back, arm clutching him desperately. Who knew for how much longer they could carry on like this, he thought to himself. It was best for him to take as much of Keith’s time as he could while he was able to.

 

* * *

 

 

Keith had hit a wall. His partners were working every last resource they had in Ba Sing Se to investigate Lotor, while Matt was searching for information on the bastard son of Alfor. He’d been looking forward to following the many leads he’d acquired, but they were proving to be more difficult than originally thought. Lotor’s family wasn’t answering the phone anymore, and Matt’s contact had up and quit two weeks before, chasing a career opportunity in the fire nation capital—Keith’s internal alarms were blaring, of course, and he fully intended on getting in contact with her supposed new employer.

Additionally, Shiro had begged him to help him scope out the roads the Princess would be using upon her arrival to the City, which was a bit difficult for him since he wasn’t a metalbender and thus couldn’t use the conveniently laid wires to check the rooftops for potential attack sites. Instead he was forced to hike staircase after staircase, as most of the lifts were too slow and Shiro was an impatient man.

By the time he was back at HQ for a quick shower, he knew Lance’s try-out had to have ended. It was two hours after the scheduled start, and he was curious. He only hoped his friends hadn’t been too hard on him.

He was surprised to find Lance, then, laughing in a booth with Pidge and Matt when he strolled into Hunk’s bar for an update.

“Keith!” Pidge screeched. “Get your dumb ass over here!” She sounded happy, but she was glaring. Keith turned, intending to run.

Instead of meeting the door, he met Hunk’s chest. “Oh no, you’re not going anywhere!”

“I’m innocent!” he insisted.

“Don’t mind Pidge, it’s all good stuff.”

“Keith!” she yelled.

Hunk didn’t seem to have time to wait for Keith to make a decision for himself, as he lifted Keith under his arms and forced him to the table.

“Hello,” he waved.

“Keith! Guess what?” Lance smiled. “I made the team!”

“You did?”

“If you had told me that Lance was a fucking _master waterbender_ , we could’ve avoided all this stress.”

“Wait, what?”

“He’s amazing, Keith!” Hunk praised. “There’s no way we can lose with him! Needs a bit more polish strategy wise, but that’s to be expected, and we can certainly work on that with him.”

“You have to see him in action, Keith!” Pidge said. “Can you make our first match?”

“I’ll try to.”

“I’ll bring Shiro, too,” Matt said. “Lance is really rather impressive; I can’t believe you didn’t know.”

“I can’t believe you all doubted me,” Lance added with a pout, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Wow, this is awesome,” Keith said, slipping in the free seat next to Lance. “Congratulations, Lance.”

Lance smiled and leaned toward Keith. “Don’t congratulate me, we haven’t won anything yet.”

“Drinks on me tonight, friends!” Pidge said.

“Drinks were on you last night, too,” Keith reminded her.

“Are you complaining?” Lance laughed.

“I’m drunk and irresponsible!” she said. “At the very least, Lance’s drinks are on me.”

“That’s fine. I should lay off tonight, this morning was brutal,” Keith said.

Lance shook his head. “This idiot came breaking into my house past midnight last night!”

“Did he ‘cuddle the shit out of you’?” Pidge smirked.

“Not at all, he knocked out,” Lance smiled. “Was that your plan?”

“It wasn’t a well thought-out plan, I’ll admit.”

“What do you guys want to drink, I’ll bring a round. Shay’s working the bar tonight so I can join you for once.”

“I’ll have my usual,” Pidge said.

“Same,” Keith provided.

Lance shrugged. “I’ll have what they’re having!”

“I’m driving, so nothing for me,” Matt chimed in.

“Alright, three of my cheapest well drinks, and a wine for me.”

Lance scrunched up his nose. “Oh, make mine a wine, too, would you? I can pay for myself, it’s no problem. In fact, let me pay for all of you—you’ve been so nice to me.”

“Oh, we couldn’t,” Pidge began, though her tone wasn’t nearly as resistant as he words implied.

“I insist!”

“Well, alright then. Don’t worry, Keith and I are cheap dates. It’s Hunk you have to worry about.”

“I can appreciate a man with impeccable tastes, I salute you, Hunk!”

“Glad someone gets me. Be back in a minute!”

“So, Matt was just telling me about his job before you got here,” Lance said. “A writer, how exciting!”

“Well, I guess I’m just a journalist for now—that’s what’s paying the bills, at least.”

“He’s been working on his debut novel,” Pidge added.

“I’m impressed!” Lance praised. “Working full time and pursuing something like that—that’s great! Do you write for a paper?”

“Ah, sort of. It’s more of a tabloid, actually. Not my first choice, but it’s fun, I guess. I get to meet a lot of awesome people—celebrities and the like.”

“Oh, tabloids… what’s that?”

“It’s like… gossip, I guess?”

“I love gossip! And Pidge, you work for Future Industries, right?”

“Yup, recently promoted head of robotics, actually.”

“While being on a pro-bending team? How?”

“Oh, that’s nothing! Hunk manages this place, does pro-bending, and attends culinary school.”

Lance held his hand over his heart. “I get overwhelmed when I have two meetings in a day. You guys are an amazing group of friends. What about you, Keith? You seem like a workaholic to me; I hope you have some time for fun.”

“Never heard of it.” Hunk returned with a tray of drinks for the group. “I’m not as cool as these guys,” he said, and he meant it. His friends were every bit worthy of Lance’s lauds; he, on the other hand, was a simple man. He went to work, did his job well enough, then came home. He was never the one with exciting news or promotions to talk about. In comparison to them, to his brother, he always thought himself a bit… dull.

“Not cool? Did he tell you how we met?” Lance asked the group. Hunk and Pidge shook their heads, while Matt just smiled knowingly. “I had my bag nicked from me by a little kid, and Keith comes bounding over a hedge and chasing after him without a question!”

“I asked _some_ questions,” he insisted. “I’d be a shit cop otherwise.”

“He chased the kid down and got him without breaking a sweat! Then, he sweetly offered to walk me home, gave me his number so he could show me around.”

Matt snickered. “Wow, so noble.”

“Isn’t he just?” Lance smiled.

“I can see why you call him naïve,” Pidge nodded. “You do realize he was just trying to get into your pants, don’t you?”

“Pidge!” Keith flushed.

Lance laughed easily. “Well, he wasn’t the only one flirting.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, please, I could’ve walked home on my own. I was fawning, O _fficer Kogane_ ,” he batted his lashes. “What did I say? Probably something along the lines of, ‘oh, officer, you were so brave! Thank you so much!’” he feigned as if he was crying, nuzzling against Keith’s chest.

“I need more to drink.”

Hunk burst into laughter. “Don’t worry, Lance, Keith isn’t quick on the uptake when it comes to flirting. When we met, I tried for two months— _two whole months_!—but, he never noticed.”

“To be fair, your flirting is confusing.”

He frowned. “I think it’s nice.”

“How anyone could resist you, Hunk, is beyond my comprehension,” Lance winked. “Keith certainly missed out.”

Hunk chuckled. “You’re a shameless flatterer, aren’t you? Maybe the blunt approach is needed for Keith’s sake.”

“Hey, let’s keep the flirting with my boyfriend to a minimum, alright?” Pidge frowned into her drink.

“Oh, I meant no offense,” Lance turned toward Pidge. “I’m glad Hunk found someone whose looks could match his.” Another wink. “Let me know if your team needs me in another way.” Amazingly, she pinked slightly—she never blushed.

“Damn,” Hunk whistled.

“I’m keeping him away from Shiro,” Matt nodded. “Too risky.”

Lance leaned on his hand, smirking in Matt’s direction. “Keith says you were nearby during my little run-in with the thief. I’m amazed Shiro was able to tear himself away from you for even a second to help me. If I were him, I’d never part from you, Matt.”

Keith shook his head. “Now look what you’ve all done. He’s out of control.”

“My heart is out of control,” Pidge took a long sip of her drink.

“Speaking of out of control,” Lance began. He turned, his full sights set on Keith. Leaning closer, he whispered low in his ear. The noise of the bar prevented their tablemates from hearing the intimate words, though they could guess the gist of them.

Keith cleared his throat, red rising to his cheeks. Lance pulled away and smiled in satisfaction.

“I think you broke him,” Hunk noted, poking Keith’s shoulder.

“Dibs on Lance if you guys break up,” Pidge said.

“No fair,” Hunk whined. “Can’t we share him?”

“No, you’re too greedy!”

“I have a lot of affection to give!”

“You fools,” Matt chuckled darkly. “As if I’d give up Lance so easily!”

“Oh, stop fighting over me,” Lance grinned. “Keith defend me.”

“Lance is mine,” he said simply. The table tensed, not quite expecting his serious tone.

Lance was the first to break the silence, laughing and throwing an arm around Keith. “Possessive, isn’t he? I like it.”

“I want to makeout with him, but I also want to watch him makeout with Keith. Is this weird? It seems weird.”

“Nah, I get it,” Pidge patted Hunk’s back in a reassuring manner. “Are you guys gonna kiss or nah?”

“Another few drinks, and maybe I’ll give a preview. I can’t stay out too late, though,” Lance said. “I’m hosting the Wynns for tea tomorrow morning.”

“Wait, like the tea mogul Wynns?” Matt asked.

“Those are the ones.”

“And you’re serving them tea? That’s bold. What for?”

“Well, I met their daughter a bit ago when Lotor and I were seeking a driver for our new car. I complimented her shoes and she complimented my hair—you know how these things go.”

“Oh of course,” Pidge nodded.

“Anyway, she wanted to set-up a meeting between our families; I told her I may be interested in getting more involved in the community. Mr. Wynn funds the largest hospital in the city, and since I want to be a healer, it makes sense for me to talk to him.”

“The Wynns are rather exclusive, so I wish you luck,” Matt said. “And watch out for the daughter—she’s unmarried and ready to jump on anyone with money, new or old.”

“I’ll be careful. She was more into Lotor than me, anyway.”

“Lotor’s your roommate?”

“Yup.”

“Is that a common name?”

Lance paused to take a drink. “Yeah, in waterbending families it is. It comes from an old legend about an ocean spirit named Lotora, who birthed all of ocean life.”

“I see.” Matt frowned, uneasy.

“You alright?” Keith asked.

“Hm? Oh, yes. You know, Lotor is the name of Zarkon’s son, too.”

Lance nodded. “Don’t let my Lotor hear you say that! People make that comment all the time; he’s not a huge fan of Zarkon.”

“I’m surprised he cares for water tribe politics at all,” Keith said. “Since he’s from Ba Sing Se.”

“Well, he’s got some heritage there,” Lance replied. “Why so curious about him, Keith? Didn’t you get your answers during your little interrogation?”

“I certainly got his stories.”

“He doesn’t tell me everything, you know,” Lance sniffed. “I don’t know why he wound up in Ba Sing Se with his uncle, or why he cares about international affairs! He supports me, so I accept what he tells me.”

“Wait… how much of your expenses are being paid for by Lotor?”

He shrugged. “Does it matter? I don’t want to discuss this right now.”

“Lance…”

Pidge cleared her throat. “Um, should we give you two some privacy?”

“No,” Lance barked. “If Keith wants to make any accusations, he can do so with his friends around, can’t you?”

“I’m not trying to accuse you of anything! I’m just trying to better understand yours and Lotor’s relationship here. He’s financing everything, but it’s clear that you had your own money, too, didn’t you? You told me you did.”

“Well, money runs out, Keith.”

“And he doesn’t care?”

“He enjoys my company.” Lance stood quickly. “Perhaps I should get home.”

“Lance, wait,” Keith took his hand. “Please, don’t be mad. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

He ripped his hand free. “You’re acting jealous!”

“Jealous? Of Lotor? Should I be? I thought you were cousins!”

“Distant cousins,” he corrected.

“I just want you to be honest with me.”

“What do you want me to say, Keith? That I was a dumb kid who ran away from home and wound up lost and alone in Ba Sing Se with barely enough money left to buy a room? That I met Lotor and—and…” he shook his head. “It really is none of your damn business. I’m going home. Please, don’t follow me. Give me a day or two to cool down.”

Hunk quickly scooted off of the bench so Lance could get through. Keith moved to follow, but the earthbender’s firm grip stopped him. “I think you should listen to him, Keith.”

“What?”

“Lance can be scary. Trust me.”

“The hot ones are always crazy,” Pidge nodded sagely. “I’m not interested in taking you to the hospital tonight.”

“What the fuck just happened?” Matt asked.

“I… I don’t know,” Keith fell into his seat. “Well, if I can’t follow him, will you at least let me get hammered?”

“I’d be an awful friend if I didn’t.”


	5. Chapter 5

Hungover and miserable, Keith found himself spending his morning surrounded by the smell of chemicals in the morgue. Unfortunately, another body by their perp had been found hours before. It belonged to a young man who’d only been reported missing three days prior.

The healer performing the autopsy, in addition to giving Keith the absolute creeps every time they met, was a talkative fellow, an unwelcome characteristic when all Keith wanted was some coffee and a nap.

“He was found behind a dumpster, but it’s strange…”

“What?” Keith asked.

“He was in one of those rich parts of the city. Looking at the clothes, the body… he was well-fed, probably rich himself.”

“That is strange. Most of the other victims were from the slums and found there, other than the one found in the park. Young, unemployed, families unaware that they were even missing till days after. But, this looks like someone who was reported missing only hours after he was supposed to meet with his family. You think it’s our same guy?”

“The state of the body would suggest yes.”

“Then they’re changing, which is worrisome. There’s something else I’ve noticed about the victims. All of them are absolutely beautiful, have you noticed that?”

They nodded. “I tend to find all corpses beautiful, but I must admit that even in life these people were quite handsome; very symmetric, youthful. What are you thinking?”

He shrugged. “None of them have shown any evidence of sexual abuses, but perhaps the perp has a thing for beauty.” He paced the room. “At first, they were targeting the poor, I thought; the first victims lived with their families, but reportedly were out enough that no one thought it odd when they didn’t return home for a night or two. The woman we found in the park: her mother said she was usually out working odd jobs. If the others too didn’t have full-time employment, just part-time jobs, there wouldn’t be records for that. Perhaps our perp met them when they were performing one of these jobs.”

“And what of the sudden type switch?”

“They could be getting more confident. Surely they can’t have exhausted their original source. This is a pain; I wish I had a more solid lead on where he may be finding his victims—it’d be a lot easier than telling my boss that they’re going after pretty people.”

The healer hummed. “The family will be by shortly to identify the body. Would you like to wait in another room for questioning?”

“That would be best, I think. Please send them my way afterwards.”

Keith’s wait wasn’t long, as within half an hour, the boy’s parents were sitting across from him, fighting tears but thankfully willing to speak.

“Could you tell me the situation of your son’s disappearance once again?”

The mother nodded. “Of course. Cotta had gone out early in the morning, saying he’d be back for lunch. He wasn’t, though, so we immediately contacted his friends and then the police. No one knew where he’d run off to, unfortunately, but we waited at home for him to return. And—“ she choked on a new wave of tears.

“Can you think of anyone who’d want to hurt him? Or even where he may have gone?”

She shook her head. “Cotta was the sweetest, no one would want to hurt him! Our family, too, we don’t have enemies. He was a kind boy, a bit naïve at times, with his dreams… we always supported him, though, no matter what.”

“What kind of dreams?”

“Oh, he always had them,” she smiled. “He wanted to be a doctor, but hated the sight of blood, so then he wanted to be a lawyer, but he couldn’t speak in public very well. Then he wanted to paint, and we sent him to an art school. It was there that he decided painting wasn’t for him. He’d taken an acting class for fun and it helped him with his stage fright. He was into movers in the end, saying he wanted to be an actor.”

Keith glanced up from his notebook at that. “Did he ever audition for anything?”

“I think he had something a few weeks ago. But, he didn’t get the role, he said. Still, he was pretty happy; said he’d met a lot of talented people who gave him some advice.”

“Did he ever spend time with other actors or people in the industry outside of auditions? Do you have any names?”

“I’m not sure,” she confessed. “He would usually just say he was going ‘to the studio’ when he’d leave. We wanted him to be independent, he was a trustworthy kid. But, you’ll go through his things, won’t you? Would that help?”

“I think it would. Thank you for your words, they’ve been very helpful.”

“Of course. Please, call us if you need anything else for the investigation.”

He nodded, rising to leave. They remained behind in order to see to the body’s final arrangements.

Once outside the morgue, Keith sprinted toward the home of one of the previous victims, once again bemoaning his inability to metalbend. Still, he made it in record time, knocking on the door while attempting to collect his breath.

The door opened to reveal a young man—his resemblance to the victim was astounding.

“Keith,” he seemed surprised. “If you’re looking for our parents, I’m afraid they’ve already moved.”

“I just have a quick question, and I think you’ll be able to answer it as well.” Frey’s older brother, the one Pidge had bumped into the other day, leaned against the door.

“If this is about Frey’s treatment of your friends, I already talked to the other firebender about it.”

“It’s about the case. About Mel.”

“Oh, alright.”

“Mel was unemployed at the time of her death, correct?”

“I think she cleaned houses on occasions, out in the nice parts of town, but that was sporadic.”

“Was she interested in other careers: perhaps acting or modeling?”

He tilted his head. “She was young and idealistic. I mean, she’d mentioned wanting to be a rich, mover star, but it was more a joke than anything. I wouldn’t say she had a talent for acting.”

“Did she ever go to auditions or anything?”

He shook his head. “Not that I know of. You know, she was a great singer, though. She never mentioned wanting to perform professionally, but that would’ve been the right career choice for her.”

“Did she ever perform recreationally? Would anyone have heard her sing?”

“Oh she was always singing, while she walked, while she cleaned the house… But, no, never a performance, sadly.”

While cleaning? he mused. And where did she spend her time cleaning? In the homes of the rich. “Do you know the names of any of the families she cleaned for?”

“Er… There were a few, she heard the names from other friends. Recently she was at the home of some no-name couple with a lot of money. I wanna say their names started with Ls.”

“Lotor? Lance?”

“That’s it!”

“What did she say about their house?”

“Just that it was empty when she went, like they’d just moved in.”

“Did she ever meet them?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Any other names?”

“She cleaned at the Wynns once—she was blown away by the size of the place, so I remember her talking about that.”

“Did she meet anyone on the job?”

“The daughter, I think. Oh, I remember now—she loved Mel’s singing. Begged her to sing while she cleaned and raved about her beauty. Mel thought it creepy, but she hardly had the right to say anything, you know?”

“Do you know much about the daughter?”

“No, not really. Just that she’s a rich Wynn.”

“Thank you so much for your time.”

“I hope it was helpful.”

“It was. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to HQ.”

“Of course. Good luck, Officer!”

Hours later, he was leaning against his desk, staring at the board he’d crafted with his victims’ pictures, the location of their bodies, and any evidence they’d gathered, which before that day had been little. He’d spent his time running around town in order to further question the rest of the victims’ families as he’d done Mel’s brother, and he was pleased to finally have found a common link between the victims besides their looks: all had a passion for performance, be it acting, modeling, or singing.

Was there someone out there, then, who saw these underprivileged and desperate actors, promised them fame and fortune, then killed them? It didn’t quite explain the blood thing, so that was still rubbing Keith the wrong way; it brought him back to Lance’s panicked claims of vampires, and back to the stories he’d been told at the orphanage by the older kids who wanted to give him nightmares. Visions of cruel queens bathing in the blood of beautiful virgins in order to retain their youth flooded his mind.

Of course, there was Mel, who as far as he knew never came in contact with the industry. Still, her proximity to the rich neighborhood through her job was a clear link—most of the mover directors and actors made their home in the manors on the outside of town. Cotta, too, was an anomaly. While of course he hoped to catch his perp before a new victim appeared, he knew the next body would be a key clue as to the murderer’s trajectory. Would they go back to their old demographic? Or would they continue down this new path?

“Keith,” his brother’s sharp tone broke his focus, and he turned to glare.

“What?”

“You’ve been working for hours. Have you taken a break?”

He returned to staring at his board. “There’s no time.”

“Of course there is. Your team is out right now questioning talent agents and studios throughout the city. You hit a break, that’s worth a lunch, at least.”

“You know I don’t get hungry when I’m working.”

“You’re gonna burn yourself out. Come on, just something light in the caf?”

He pushed off from his desk with a loud, overdramatic sigh. “Fine, fine. But only ‘cause it’s dumpling day.”

“Understandable.” They made the rest of their trip in silence, Keith still clearly pondering the specifics of his case. He’d been so busy all day that he hadn’t had a second to spare a thought for Lance, or even for Lotor, as Matt hadn’t gotten back to him.

Unfortunately, that relative peace was shattered by Shiro.

“Pidge told me you and Lance fought last night.”

Keith’s pensive look fell into a frown. “I haven’t had time to think about it.”

“Are you using work to distract yourself from it?”

He shrugged. “You know I get like this sometimes. I’m getting close, I can feel it, Shiro.”

“Still, you shouldn’t neglect your relationships by drowning yourself in work.”

“I think all this is a bit bigger than my love life, Shiro. People are dying!”

“I know, I know. Just… try to keep a balance.”

He rolled his eyes. “Sure thing, Avatar Shiro.”

He chuckled. “You gotta admit, I’d make a damn good Avatar.”

Keith stabbed his first dumbling and brought it to his mouth. “Is all you guys do gossip about me?” he asked, changing the subject.

“You come up a lot, I’ll admit it. We just want you to be happy.”

“Work makes me happy.”

“So does Lance.”

“Yeah, well… maybe I’m not the only one making him happy.”

“You think he and Lotor are together.”

“He implied as much. Forgive me for being cynical, but I don’t believe Lotor would be a benefactor to Lance simply because he likes speaking to him.”

“And so what if Lance slept with Lotor for security? That’s none of your business.”

“It could be if they’re still sleeping together!”

“Have you even said that you’re officially dating? Exclusively?”

“We spend, like, every night together! I thought it was pretty clear.”

Shiro shrugged. “Until you hear from his mouth that you’re dating, maybe you shouldn’t assume.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so nosy. Or, maybe we _should_ take a break during my investigation. Given recent leads, Lotor could be a potential victim. Or, maybe my dream will come true and he’ll end up being the murderer.”

“But then Lance would be in danger.”

“I’ll save the day; it’ll be like a mover.”

“You’re pretty jocular about all this, surprisingly.”

“Whatever. I knew he was too good to be true, anyway. Hell, maybe Lance and Lotor are a murdering duo, wouldn’t that be swell?”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“You’re trying to put him down because you’re hurt and confused. Perhaps Lance has hidden things from you, but it was only to protect you, I’m sure.”

He shook his head. “That’s a bullshit reason to lie.”

“And have you been fully truthful with him? About your past?”

“He knows I was in a gang, that I was adopted late in life. He knows enough.”

“But you didn’t tell him everything, did you?”

“I mean… I may have left out some of the less pleasant details.”

“See? That’s what people do. Does that mean you hate him?”

“Of course not! But, I’m not hiding a whole relationship. It’s different. And, it’s not just jealousy: what if Lotor is forcing Lance to stay with him for money? What if he’s in danger?”

“You’ll have to wait till Lance tells you so himself.”

“Or I could do my job and investigate him.”

“That’s the last thing you want to do. It’s an abuse of power.”

“Dammit, Shiro, I can’t just sit by and watch him possibly get hurt! Lotor’s hurt him before, and he could hurt him again!”

“You don’t know enough! Rushing into this is what got you into trouble in the first place!”

“Excuse me?”

“Keith, you’ve always been impulsive, but surely even you can see that you fell for Lance too quickly!”

“How dare you—“

“It’s been weeks since you met, Keith, and you’re letting him derail your investigation—“

“No I’m not!” he insisted. “Lotor is worthy of further investigation, he’s sketchy as can be!”

“Is he? Or are you simply conflating him with your jealous suspicions?”

Keith stood. “Well, as much as I’d love for you to abuse me over some stale dumplings, I’d prefer to work in my office, if you don’t mind.”

“Keith…”

“Officer Kogane!” one of his partners called out from across the cafeteria. Keith whirled toward them, hunched over from their dash. “We’ve found something you need to see!”

“What is it?” he took the offered folder and opened it. He read what he needed to in seconds, snapping it shut without a word. He brushed past his partner, carrying the document through the caf, through HQ, and all the way to his home.

“What was in that folder, officer?” Shiro asked the confused woman.

She jumped, intimidated by her superior’s harsh tone. “Documentation from Lotor’s time in Ba Sing Se, sir. He’s a suspect in our—“

“I know who he is. What does the document say?”

“It’s… a marriage license between him and Lance.”

Shiro cursed under his breath. He knew it would be foolish to chase after Keith after the words they’d exchanged. He could only hope his brother wouldn’t do anything brash with this new information.

 

* * *

 

A desperate rapping on the door woke Keith from his nap. He turned to the clock, noting the time as only nine in the evening. After he’d returned from work, he’d poured himself a hefty glass of wine, chugged it, and fallen into a fitful slumber.

Rubbing his face, he rolled off his sofa and made his way to the door which was still shaking from the force of the knocker. Figuring it was Shiro, he opened it with an annoyed bark of “What?”

Instead, there was Lance, looking sad and pitiful, hints of tears and a redness in the eyes suggesting that he’d already been crying.

“Can we talk?” he asked, sniffing.

Keith relented, moving out of the door so he could enter. Keith took his previous spot on the couch, just waiting.

“I wanted to apologize for freaking out on you. It wasn’t fair, and I know I overreacted. I’m sorry for bringing your friends into it, too. And I’m sorry for not being fully honest with you.”

“Just tell me the truth. What is Lotor to you?” Keith’s gaze subconsciously shot toward the folder on his coffee table. Lance caught the look and frowned.

“What’s in that folder?”

“Will what I say change your words? Would you have lied to me again if you didn’t know?”

Lance sighed. “I probably would’ve, to be honest.”

Keith scoffed. “Why should I believe anything you say, then?”

“Just… hear me out for a second, Keith. Yes, Lotor and I… we’re not just friends. We met in Ba Sing Se, and he helped me get back on my feet. He was kind to me, and I was scared. It was stupid, on both our parts, but I was poor and he wanted to rebel against his family. We’re married, but it’s more for convenience. There were some… extenuating circumstances that required a marriage.”

“What kind of circumstances?”

“The accident. We lied about that. It wasn’t on private property. Lotor was drunk and he hurt me, but he didn’t mean it! He felt so awful, and we weren’t going to go to the police, but the property damage was such that the police got involved anyway. In Ba Sing Se, there’s a law that a spouse doesn’t have to testify against their spouse, so we did it to avoid all that drama. Of course, they wanted money, too, and Lotor’s family was furious. We paid our debts and ran after that.”

“But do you love him?”

“I love him as I would a brother. He’s a good friend; he’s supported me more than just financially.”

“Do you still sleep with him?”

“That’s not much of your business.”

“How is it not? What am I to you, Lance? I thought we were boyfriends, that we were exclusive.”

“Well, we never said as much.”

“So you’ve slept with him.”

He looked to the side. “I have.”

“Recently?”

He nodded. Keith groaned, rubbing at his temples. “Do you care about me?”

“Of course I do! I want to be with you! I didn’t know you’d want to be exclusive, I’ll admit, but I’m willing to stop sleeping with Lotor if you want that.”

“Will you stop living with him? Divorce him?”

He faltered. “I… I can’t, Keith. I couldn’t live on my own.”

“Then live with me.”

“I don’t think I could, Keith.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve grown used to a certain lifestyle.”

“So you’ll choose him because I’m poor?”

“Please, Keith, you don’t understand. It’s more than money. I love being with you, spending time with you. But you can’t protect me the way Lotor’s money can.”

“I can’t believe you’d be so shallow. I’m a police officer, I can help you. If you’re running from something, if you’re in trouble, you should let me help.”

“I…” Lance clenched his fists in his lap.

“Lance, just be honest with me. What are you hiding?”

He couldn’t meet his eye, so Keith crossed the distance, kneeling in front of him and taking his face in his hands. “Please, Lance. Let me help you.” He placed a desperate kiss to Lance’s lips. “I love you.”

He tried to pull back but was stopped by Lance’s hands tangling in his hair. The kiss deepened, their feelings on full display, raw and hurt as both were. Before things could escalate, Keith parted them, resting his forehead to Lance’s. “I’m sorry, but I can’t be with you if you’re going to keep lying to me. If what you’ve told me is the full truth, then maybe we can try this again. You can keep living with him, that’s fine, just promise you won’t sleep with him again.”

“I swear I won’t!”

“And tell me what I can do to start helping you. If it’s your family, or something dangerous, just tell me.”

Lance’s face fell. “And if I can’t do that?”

“Then this is goodbye.”

“Just like that?”

“If you can lie to my face ‘just like that’, then yes.”

“I’m sorry. I want to tell you, I truly do—“

“Then why can’t you? Who will hurt you if you do? If it’s Lotor—“

“No, it’s not him, I swear.”

“I just… if you were lying to me about this, what else was a lie? Are you even from the Southern water tribe? And that stuff about your family?”

Lance rose, his hands holding on the Keith’s. “I’m sorry for all of this. I shouldn’t have even started this, but I did care for you. From the moment I met you, you made me smile when for so long all I knew was darkness. You made me so happy, made me forget about my past. But, I can’t escape the things I’ve done, and I should’ve known better. I wish you happiness, Keith, even if it’s not me who’s the one to give it to you.”

He pressed a sweet kiss to the back of Keith’s hand, and just like that, he was gone; gone from Keith’s home and, so it seemed, gone from his life for good.

Shiro hadn’t expected to see Keith so soon after he’d stormed off, but he was back at HQ only an hour after Lance had parted. Shiro nodded, the pair not needing words with how close they were.

“I’m fine, and I forgive you,” Keith said. “You can make it up to me by helping me go through these files my people collected today.”

“On it.” He sat across from Keith, reaching for the top file on the stack. “Is Lotor no longer a suspect?”

“Their wedding is an alibi. They were in Ba Sing Se at the time of the first murders.”

“Alright then, should I toss this?” he held in his hand Lance’s small file.

“Yeah. Get it out of my sight.”


	6. Chapter 6

Of course, it would be foolish of Keith to think he could avoid Lance completely after their break-up. While Pidge and Hunk were loyal to Keith, for the sake of their team, they saw Lance every day at practice in the days leading up to their first match. Additionally, his leads were pointing him toward the agent who represented Lotor, so he spent a lot of time with the other man who, surprisingly, was much kinder to Keith now that he wasn’t dating Lance; he would classify Lotor’s attitude toward him now as one of pity as opposed to his previously-held antagonism.

Keith, Matt, and Shiro were among the many fans in attendance during the Electric Eelhounds' opening match, in which they were facing the Daring Dragon Moose. Keith would usually visit his friends in their room before and after their matches, but given the situation, he chose to remain in his seat while Shiro and Matt wished the trio good luck.

It seemed they didn’t need it, however, as they proved to be an alarmingly efficient team. Lance especially proved himself a perfectly capable teammate seconds into the first round, knocking the opposing team’s earthbender into the pool on his first strike. The crowd had still been cheering due to the starting bell, and at his hit, they erupted. The immediate advantage allowed for the Eelhounds to easily take the first round without losing one zone.

“He’s good,” Shiro noted.

“Pidge and Hunk rave about his bending—say he’s even more impressive when not hindered by probending rules. More of an ice guy, which makes sense given his upbringing,” Matt added. “It’s good that the Dragon Moose aren’t that skilled; it’s their first match as a team, and they need this confidence boost.”

Shiro nodded. “I only wish the match would be longer. Guarantee they’ll take round two just as easily.”

“That’s fine by me, honestly. I’m exhausted myself.”

“Yeah, same. Keith, are you going to the bar after this? Or will you walk home with us?”

“I plan to walk back. Early day tomorrow.”

“Aw, but Pidge was hoping to see you,” Matt frowned. “Lance won’t be there, I know. There’s some dinner at the hospital. He got that healer job.”

“Good for him. I don’t know, I’m not in the right mood. I don’t wanna dull their celebration.”

“I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“The Princess comes tomorrow, and though you’re not technically on duty, it’ll be good to have you in the office in case anything goes awry,” Shiro ruffled his brother’s hair affectionately.

“Another royal, another gala,” Keith sighed. “Not looking forward to that at all.”

“You and me both.”

“Well,” Matt smiled. “I’m excited for it! The Wynns are hosting, you know, it’s not often that people get to go in their house. They’re very private.”

“What do you mean no one goes in their house?” Keith asked. His leads were slowly drying up, with dead-ends and missing contacts galore. A name that kept haunting him, however, was Wynn.

“Oh, well just that. Other than business contacts, they don’t socialize much, which is odd given how the upper stratum of the city tends to operate with parties and intermarriages and the like.”

“What about employees?”

“Last I heard, they used long-term contracts only. Why, their driver has worked for them since before the Satomobile was invented! He made the transition from carriage to car.”

He hummed. “The Wynns only have one daughter and one son, right?”

“Yes. The daughter is the eldest, and she’s the named heir—once she gets married, that is. The son is younger, and he doesn’t live in the city anymore. He travels the lands, meeting with farmers in order to perfect their teas and come up with new flavors.”

“They do make some damn good tea,” Shiro said. “Oh, we should go to the shop tomorrow for some more, actually.”

“Good plan.”

“Maybe you’ll meet the son at the party, Keith. They all tend to come together for these events.”

He nodded. The bell sounded, and they turned their attention to the playing field. As expected, they made quick work of the Dragon Moose, and the Eelhounds concluded their debut. While Shiro and Matt headed for their friends, Keith made his way to the front of the building. He waited on the steps, occupying his time by observing passerby. A familiar face approached him, and he nodded politely.

“Good evening, Keith,” Lotor smiled softly. “Did you enjoy the match?”

“It was good. The team should do well this year.”

“Yes, I’d never seen the sport before, and I found it very interesting. Lance was so nervous, so I’m glad he did well.”

“Do you have what I asked for?”

He nodded, reaching into his pocket. He paused. “Should I give it to you now, or later?”

“Now’s fine. No one’s looking at us.”

Lotor nodded, fishing around his robe for a few seconds. He withdrew a crumpled piece of paper and passed it to Keith. “I never met the people myself, but their names were in the system. Oddly enough, they weren’t connected to any one agent, but next to their names was the same letter, a lower-case ‘h’ which you’ll see when you open the note.”

“Thanks,” he pocketed the paper. “Any other names with the symbol?”

“No. I also asked some of the other actors if they’d met these people, auditioned at the same time or anything, and no one’s heard of them.”

“I see. Well, keep your eyes and ears open, see if anything pops up. It’s possible, too, that it’s not anyone truly in the industry, merely someone with access to the same information.”

“Of course. Let me know if you need anything.” He cleared his throat. “You seem to be doing well. Lance doesn’t know that I see you often. He misses you a lot.”

“I thought we agreed not to talk about him.”

“I can’t sit by and let you hurt him like this. He’s my best friend, and he cares for you deeply. If you remember, I was no supporter of you two. I thought he was just being his usual flirtatious self, just hoping for some fun. I haven’t seen him so miserable in recent memory.”

“Yeah, well, I’m miserable too.”

“I get that he hurt you. Trust me, I know that Lance can be a bit unaware of the effect he has at times. I think it would mean a lot to him if you reached out sometime—perhaps just as friends, even. He gets awfully lonely. Other than me, he only ever sees the young Ms. Wynn. Sure, there’s Hunk and Pidge, but he gets so anxious around them since it reminds him of you.”

“Wait. Ms. Wynn? They spend a lot of time together?”

“Yeah. After our first tea, she and he became fast friends. They often shop together or go into the city. Lance owes a lot to Mr. Wynn for his new job, of course, but I think he likes spending time with her regardless.”

“Do you spend time with Ms. Wynn as well?”

“I see her often at work.”

“Why’s that?”

“Ms. Wynn and her brother are both patrons of the arts, actually. They fund many writers and artists through the city. The theater near the police station was built by their family.”

“I had no idea.” His mind was racing. “I need to go into HQ, now. If you see Shiro can you tell him I won’t be home tonight?”

“Oh, sure. Are you alright?”

“Yes, I just need to look into some things!” he took a few steps toward the main street, then stopped and turned. “Lotor!”

“Yes?”

“Can you… can you make sure Lance is safe? Know where he is at all times and, maybe, don’t let him go off alone with Ms. Wynn? And, keep yourself safe too.”

“Are we in danger?”

“I sure hope not, but I can’t say for sure just yet.” With that, he continued onward, a plan coming together in his head.

But, imaginings were only the beginning. He had numerous papers to fill out, superiors to brief and then beg, and the right agents to gather. Shiro was a bit annoyed, since a lot of Keith’s work intersected with his own efforts to ensure a safe stay for the Norther Water Tribe royal delegation, but he knew his brother was doing the right thing for his case.

Throughout the process, Keith found himself spending more and more time with Lotor, of all people. Now that he was no longer a top suspect, his access to the community from which the victims were drawn was invaluable. And, thankfully, given his connection to the Wynns, he was easily able to secure an invitation to their party. The difficulty then, was with Lance.

“They’ll expect me to bring him,” Lotor insisted. “Ms. Wynn knows his schedule by now, and her father is his boss, so it’s not as if I can lie about his whereabouts.”

“I don’t want him in danger, though.”

“Keith, surely you realize how strong Lance is in his own right?”

“I know, but we still haven’t eliminated the possibility of a bloodbender being our perp.”

“You said yourself that the victims have all been non-benders. I doubt they’d go for Lance, given his occupation.”

“Well, alright.”

“If you just don’t want to see him, I can make sure he’s nowhere near to you during the party.”

“I don’t… I mean… That’s not very professional of me.”

“Don’t stress about it. You won’t have to talk to him if you don’t want.”

“Alright. Thanks.”

“Though I do think you two—“

“Nope.”

“Very well,” he nodded. “Well, I’ll have to get back to get ready.”

Keith glanced at the clock on his desk. “The party’s not for five hours.”

He chuckled. “And I’m already late for moral support. For large functions like this, Lance takes about six hours to prepare himself, both physically and mentally.”

“I see. Sounds like him.”

“Just try not to look at him, I don’t want you to be taken in all over again.”

“As if I’d be so easy,” he rolled his eyes. Lotor only laughed.

 

* * *

 

Despite all claims to the contrary, Keith really was that easy. It didn’t help that Lotor had been nowhere to be seen when Keith spotted Lance across the ballroom, looking nothing short of ethereal in a much too-tight navy suit. He cut a striking figure, flitting from guest to guest with Ms. Wynn on his arm and a bright smile on his face. If it hadn’t been for Lotor telling him hours before that Lance was still just as miserable as the day they parted, he would’ve thought that Lance had finally moved on. Of course, as he had learned, Lance was an alarmingly good actor. As lovely as the smiles were, Keith saw them for what they truly were, lies.

Still, he didn’t shy away when Lance, free from Ms. Wynn at last, approached him, confident smile turned sheepish.

“Hey.”

Keith faltered for only a moment, then cleared his throat. “Good evening. You look nice.”

He brightened at the praise. “Thank you. I was worried the suit wouldn’t be altered in time, but everything worked out just fine.”

A few moments of awkward silence. “You look handsome, too,” Lance commented. “I’ve never seen you so dressed up.” He brought his hand forward as if to adjust a part of Keith’s suit, but paused, his hand snapping back to his side. “How are you enjoying the party? I know you hate these things.”

“Well, I’m technically working, so that makes it a little better.”

“Oh, am I disturbing you?”

“No! Of course not, it’s fine.” He swallowed thickly; how could someone who’d hurt him so much still make his throat run drier than a desert? How could someone still shock him with their beauty alone? “Do you… do you want to talk somewhere more private?”

“I’d love nothing more.”

Lance took the lead, apparently more familiar with the layout of the house. He found a smaller washroom, slipped the attendant a bill, and dragged Keith by the hand through the door.

They were on each other in seconds, hands and mouths roaming, each touch hot as fire. Keith ripped Lance’s suitcoat off him, tossing it toward a corner, any corner, then pushed him back against a bench. Lance fell, immediately pulling Keith closer so as to cover as much as his body with his own as possible.

“Should we be doing this?” Lance managed to gasp out as Keith worked at his neck with his mouth.

“I missed you,” Keith replied, not caring in the slightest how sappy he sounded.

“Gods, I missed you too. Get up here and kiss me.” He didn’t wait for Keith to obey, instead grabbing him by the hair and yanking him upward so their lips could meet in a searing kiss. Lance whined into the kiss, his arms snaking their way around Keith’s shoulders, tugging at him in desperation.

He shuddered, and Keith chuckled, figuring he had caused the response. He pulled away in order to take in Lance’s face—he always had the most incredible expressions—and was startled to see that Lance was crying, his shuddering continuing as he fought to control his sobs.

“Lance?” He took him firmly by the shoulders, shaking him lightly to grab his attention. “What’s the matter? Are you alright?”

“I am, I swear. It’s stupid,” he laughed then sniffed. “I just… missed you a lot is all.”

“I know,” Keith rubbed his cheeks, wiping away the tears that had already fallen.

“And… I want you so badly right now, but I know we shouldn’t, not after everything that happened.”

Keith also knew him to be right. He wished that he could only want Lance for his body, but despite how things had ended between them, he truly wanted all of Lance, mysterious past and all. “You’re right.”

“What are you doing after this?”

“Heading to HQ. Why?”

“It would be nice to get dinner, or something. Spend some time together and talk—like, actually talk,” he laughed. “Not that I don’t enjoy this kind of thing. But, if we want to… avoid what happened before...”

“What are you saying?”

He sighed. “I was talking with some friends, Ms. Wynn, Lotor, about what had happened. And talking through it, I realized that it was wrong of me to just expect you to be alright with my lying. So, I decided that, if you want to hear me out, I want to tell you everything.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “You’re more important to me than… than a lot of things. And it’s scary, but once I tell you, I think you’ll understand why I did what I did.”

“I swear I’ll do all that I can to protect you, Lance.”

“I know you will. You’re a good man, Keith, too good for me.”

“Don’t say things like that. You’re perfect.”

He pressed a long, close-mouthed kiss to Keith’s lips. “We should get back to the party, don’t you think?”

“You’re right. The guest of honor should be arriving shortly.”

“Oh, so you know about that? Ms. Wynn was so secretive about it, wouldn’t even tell me—rude considering how much I helped her with arranging catering, but that’s fine.”

“For her security, I was forced to stay quiet about it.” He rose from their seat, helping Lance to his feet. He started gathering their ties and coats, strewn about with little regard.

“I hope it’s someone cool, like a mover star or something! That would be very exciting.”

“It’s no one like that, but you’ll know her when you see her, I think.”

“Ooh, I can’t wait!” he cheered. He took his coat from Keith’s hands, shrugging it on over his shoulders and fixing the buttons.

“You know,” Keith continued, adjusting his tie—to no avail, as Lance took one look at it, tutted, and set to fixing it himself. “You were amazing at your matches.”

“You were there?” he smiled. “I’m glad you came, even though you knew I’d be there.”

“And you got your healer position, too. That’s amazing.”

He nodded. “I’ll admit, those small victories weren’t all that great. I wanted to share these things with someone, with you. But, I also didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure if I should’ve even approached you tonight.”

“I’m glad you did. As soon as this party is over, we can grab some takeout and talk at my place—how does that sound?”

“I thought you had work to do?”

“It can wait for a night.”

“Alright. I’ll have to let Lotor know—he’s been even more protective lately, you know, it’s odd. But, he’s finally approving of you—great timing, right?” he laughed.

“He’s not so bad a guy as I’d thought. I judged him prematurely.”

“You were jealous.”

“I was.”

“Well, I’m glad we can both be mature about all this. Republic City has quickly become like a home to me, and that was mainly because of you. It was… painful without you around, but now things are looking up again.” Another soft kiss and a smile. “Shall we?”

“Let’s.” Keith held out his arm, and Lance took it gingerly. They left the bathroom, Lance waving in parting at the attendant who only looked away, clearly embarrassed.

The walk back to the ballroom was filled with shallow pleasantries and jokes, their pending serious conversation far from their minds. For the time, they simply enjoyed what had been missing for what seemed like ages, light and free.

“Oh, there,” Keith nudged Lance’s side and pointed toward the staircase. “The guest will be coming down from there.”

“How dramatic.”

“Would you have done any differently?”

“Oh, of course not. Making an entrance is my specialty. Why, one time I introduced myself to a handsome man just after I'd been robbed.”

“Sounds excessive. How’d that work out for you?”

“Very well, I’d say.” He turned his attention from the staircase, more focused on Keith than on the announcement. “I didn’t want to say it before, but I know I should before it’s too late.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Keith said. He kissed Lance’s forehead. “It won’t change how I feel. I love you, Lance.”

“You don’t think we’ve gone too fast?”

He shrugged. “So what if we have?”

He laughed. “I suppose it’s to be expected of you. Well, you’re right, so what if it’s too fast? It feels just right to me.” He set his hands on Keith’s hips, pulling him close. “Keith Kogane, I—“

There was a shrill scream from across the room. Keith immediately glared toward the noise, cursing the interruption. He saw for the first time Princess Allura, just as beautiful as advertised, yelling for guards. Guests were confused, but they all followed her pointed finger.

Straight toward Keith and Lance.

“Keith?” Lance was staring at his face. “What is it?” he turned, paling on facing Allura. “Oh no.” He tried to pull away from Keith, to run. “I need to go!”

“Don’t let that man escape!” Allura yelled. “He is a wanted criminal of the Northern Water Tribe!” She marched toward them, everyone moving to make space for her.

“Lance, what is she talking about?” Keith wanted to let go of Lance, but behind Allura was Shiro who, though confused, was shaking his head, a silent order to stay still.

“Don’t believe a word she says, please, Keith, I swear I never killed anyone in my life!” Lance tried once more to pull away, but Keith’s grip was firm.

Allura was only steps away, but she paused, suddenly fearful. “Shiro, this man is an officer, correct?” she asked, gesturing toward Keith.

“Yes, Officer Kogane.”

“Then I command you to have him arrest this man on grounds of murder, treason, and, worst of all, bloodbending.”

The crowd gasped, Keith included. “Shiro, there’s no way—“

“This man, this _traitor_ ,” she spat the word. “Schemed with my father’s political rival to murder him, the same man whose wife murdered my mother—her own sister! He trained under this dreadful woman for years, learned the forbidden art of bloodbending and used it to collude with Zarkon.” Her glare was icy, fierce. “If you won’t arrest him, I’ll kill him right here myself.”

“Princess, please,” Shiro placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll bring Lance in for questioning.”

“Lance?” she whirled her head toward Lance. “So, you lie to them, too. Well, it’s to be expected. This man is not named Lance. His name is Allanse, my brother. Well, he _was_ my brother.”

“Allura, please, why don’t you ever listen to me?” Lance yelled.

“Lance?” Keith looked at the man in his arms. “Is this true? Are you… the son of Alfor?”

“He does not deserve the title!” Allura yelled. “Shiro, since this man is incapable, I order you to throw Allanse into the nearest dungeon.”

“We don’t really do dungeons here, actually.” Still, he crossed the distance to Keith. “We’ll straighten this out, Keith. I swear it.” He took Lance from Keith’s hold, turning him around so he could bend cuffs onto him.

“Keith,” Lance cried out. “I am guilty of a crime, but not murder, not treason! But, what the royal family did to me, what Allura did to me… I had no choice! It was either turn to this or die!”

“What are you saying? The other crime… Are you a bloodbender?”

He stared at his feet. “Yes. But, remember, it’s because of her.” Raising his face, he directed his own steely glare toward the Princess. “Blame me all you want, but there’s no running from the truth, Allura! You have no one to blame but yourself for this! For me and Lotor!”

She sniffed, turning her head. “Get this criminal out of my sight.”

“Yes, Princess,” Shiro began leading Lance from the hall.

“And see to it that he has no visitors until I’ve seen him myself.” She regarded Keith coldly. “Especially not from this man. Were you so easily fooled by him?”

“I don’t know you at all, but you have no right to do this!”

“As Princess, I have every right to bring back a wanted criminal to my land. You’d best not stand in my way.”

“If he truly was a bloodbender, why didn’t he run, then?” Keith asked.

“Allanse has always been a planner, he'd be stupid to try anything here. I’ll be sure to post more guards on him, though for everyone’s safety, it may be best if he’s kept unconscious till we return home.”

“That’s barbaric!”

“As if his actions aren’t?” she barked. In an eerie flash, her face became more subdued, she even smiled. “Now, shall we carry on with this lovely party? I for one could use some dinner after a long day of traveling.” She made her way toward Ms. Wynn who only broke from her trance after a quick pat on the arm. “I said... entertain me,” she commanded.


	7. Chapter 7

Keith had been fighting for hours, begging his superiors, Shiro even, to go to Lance—even for just a minute. Despite his pull, only Allura and her personal guard were given access to him. Lance hadn’t even seen a lawyer, regardless of the City’s laws, all because of the Northern Water Tribe’s extradition order on Allanse. It was unjust, Keith knew it, Shiro knew it, hell even the Chief knew it. Given the circumstances, they were forced to call in the Avatar herself, so worried was Allura that her brother would turn on them at the first opportunity.

Other than how unfairly they were treating him, Keith also knew where he was being kept, in the basement of HQ. He knew that he had been forced into a full-body metal suit, which was in turn suspended in chains. There wasn’t a drop of water in the vicinity, and the room was far enough away from the building’s pipe systems for any bender to use. That left only one potential source for Lance to bend, which he could only use if the accusations were true. As such, very few people—few sources, that is—were even entering the room, instead conducting their interview via a speaker system.

In Keith’s opinion, the whole thing was overkill. Even if Lance was some bloodbender—which he was finding less issue with than expected, surprisingly—he genuinely believed that Lance didn’t have the stomach for what they accused him of. Deception, maybe. But murder? Treason? It couldn’t be. From what Keith understood, Lance never wanted anything more than to get away from his family; he was no power hungry usurper, no matter what Allura thought. Not the Lance he knew—

—But who even was that, really?

No, he shook his head. He couldn’t’ think like that. Lance was going to come clean to him, wasn’t he? That’s where they should’ve been, talking in his apartment, not stuck in HQ, separated by a few stories' worth of earth and metal.

“Keith?” a voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned in his chair, facing his brother.

“Shiro. How is he?”

“It’s…” he couldn’t meet his eye. “Not great. Chief is trying her best to reign Allura in, even Avatar Korra is there. To be frank, she’s acting crazy right now, the Princess. She’s yelling at him hysterically, and he’s just… sitting there. I think she’ll tire herself out soon, at least.”

“She hasn’t touched him, has she?”

“No, she hasn’t.”

“What the hell is she even saying? I thought this was supposed to be a questioning. If all she’s doing is throwing these accusations around… without letting him defend himself… Can’t we do something for him?”

“Unfortunately, the rest of Allura’s guards as well as the advisor, Coran, have confirmed that Lance truly is Prince Allanse. Thus, he’s a Northern Water Tribe criminal, and under international law, they have every right to hold him how they deem proper.”

“But his trial there never ended, right? How can this hold up?”

“Chief is being generous; we hardly want an international incident.”

“Can I see him yet?”

“I think it can be arranged. After Allura’s gone, Chief wants to ask him some questions for herself. Then, I don’t see why you can’t go in. From what I’ve gathered from the guards, they don’t intend to obey Allura’s order to keep you out, specifically. In fact, a lot of them seem sympathetic toward Lance. Coran, especially, has been urging Allura to calm down and see reason.”

“Just give me the word, and I’ll be ready.”

“It’ll be a few hours; you should get some rest.”

“How can I?”

“Take this time you know you have—who knows how tomorrow will play out, if we’ll have any free time at all.”

He nodded. “You’re probably right.”

“How are you holding up with… with everything? I saw you too together when it all went down. I guess you’d talked?”

“We met up at the party, talked a bit. He actually agreed to tell me everything afterwards; he said he had done regrettable things, but that I’d be able to understand why if I just heard him out.”

“Do you think these horrible things include murder?”

“No.”

“Bloodbending?”

“It’s possible.”

“It’d be hard to prove, as you know. Allura said that Korra should block his bending, that that would prove it, though I’m not sure how that would work. As if he would unblock it and sabotage himself.”

“He’d know better, for sure. Well, I’m not sure myself how blocking works—would all bloodbenders know how to do that?”

“You may have a point. Well, I need to get back to the Princess. Get some rest.”

“Alright.” As Shiro turned to leave, Keith seemed to remember something. “Hey, wait.”

“What?”

“Have you seen Lotor around yet?”

Shiro frowned. “No, I haven’t. I figured he’d be here with you.”

“It would make sense. Has Allura mentioned him?”

“His name’s come up in relation to Lance, but now that you mention it, I remember her mentioning his death.”

“Matt mentioned that Zarkon’s son had passed recently.”

He nodded. “So a faked death. She doesn’t even know, then, that he’s here.”

“Given how she’s treating Lance and how close they are, I guess it’d make sense that he’d avoid her.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “But, he cares deeply for Lance—he would’ve tried for himself to see him, surely, or at least reached out to me.”

“Did you see him at the party? When Allura started yelling?”

“I wasn’t looking. But, when Lance first came up to me, I didn’t see him anywhere in the ballroom; I remember since his one job was to keep Lance away from me.”

“I see.”

Keith rose. “I need to find him. This thing with Lance distracted me, but what about my case?”

“You don’t think someone’s taken Lotor, do you?”

“He was at the Wynn estate, and they’re currently my prime suspect. I have to go.”

“Alright. Go, then. Hopefully he’s at home, and when you come back you’ll be able to speak with Lance.”

A final nod, and Keith was gone, rushing across town toward Lotor’s home. The hour was so late that it was early, the sun’s rays teasing the horizon with spots of light. He rapped on the front door as loud as possible—last he’d heard, they still hadn’t found a permanent doorman for their manor.

A doorman didn’t answer, nor did Lotor. Instead, a young woman who looked quite unsure whether it was her place to answer the door did.

“Hello?” she had only opened the door enough to peek through the crack. “I’m afraid the masters are asleep.”

“I’m with the police,” Keith pulled out his badge to prove his claim. “I know that Lance is out, but did Lotor come back last night? I need to speak with him.”

She frowned. “I don’t think—“

“Have you worked here long?”

“No, only a week.”

“You won’t get in trouble; I’m close friends with Lance, even with Lotor, I suppose. Lotor went to the Wynn’s last night, correct?”

She nodded. Good, Keith thought. At least she knew a bit of their schedule. “Did he return?”

She hesitated then shook her head. “No. Nor did Master Lance. I came in an hour or so ago, and they’re usually in their room, but the door was open. I didn’t do anything, just changed the bedding, but it was odd.”

“Did Lotor have any meetings today, that you know of?”

“I don’t know for sure, but he usually works on weekdays, so I’d assume he’d be downtown.”

“Can I come in?”

She shuffled her feet. “I don’t know if that’s proper. I apologize.”

He took a step to the side, reaching into the mouth of a carved lion turtle to the side of the porch. “I know where the spare key is, see?” he procured the metal key. “Do you trust that I’m a friend?”

She seemed satisfied, stepping aside so she could open the door fully. “It’s not uncommon for Lotor to spend nights out with his coworkers, but I’m quite worried about Master Lance. He rarely ventures far from the estate. Of course, Lotor is usually back by now, too, so that’s odd.”

Keith proceeded past the door, shutting it behind him. “You said he didn’t return?”

She nodded. “That’s right. His jacket isn’t here, nor his shoes—they both usually leave them in the front closet. And the bed hadn’t been touched, which is strange, neither their bedroom or any of the guest rooms.” She pointed first toward the closets then to the master bedroom, where Lotor and Lance slept, apparently. Despite his foreknowledge, that fact still stung a bit. “Do you know where they could be?” she continued.

“Lance is fine. Well, he’s… safe enough. Lotor, however, I’m not sure. And I’m worried. You said he spent nights out before?”

She nodded. “I don’t know their names, but a few directors have shown an… interest in him. I suppose he goes out drinking with them, occasionally spends the night.” She seemed uncomfortable.

“What is it?”

“Well, it’s hardly my place to say. But, you say you’re friends with Lance? I’m not sure Master Lotor is exactly faithful to Lance. They’re an odd couple, they hardly act like it, truth be told.”

He nodded. “Right, thank you for sharing that. Tell me, does Ms. Wynn come around a lot?”

“Oh yes, she and Lance seem close. It’s nice, since Lance had been so sad for a while. She'll take him shopping or to lunch.”

“Does she often speak with Lotor?”

She shook her head. “Only about business, I think. Her brother has recently returned to the City; he wants to be a director.”

That was news to Keith. “He’s back? For how long?”

“Oh, a few months, I think. He’s trying to keep a low profile; doesn’t want his name swaying people’s opinions of his movers ahead of time, you know.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah, he was a bit of an ass, if I’m being frank. I’m not a doorman, so it’s hardly my job to announce people, but he always insisted I announce him as Harry anyway.”

“Harry?” he tensed, remembering the symbol next to his victim’s names: a lowercase h. “His birth name doesn’t start with an ‘h’, does it?”

“Not that I know of. Harry’s a strange name, in my opinion.”

“So he and Ms. Wynn discussed acting with Lotor?”

“Yes, quite often. They even tried to get Lance into the business, I think, with modeling. But, he was pretty set on his bending and healing, so he wasn’t swayed.”

“Mr. Wynn, was he staying with Ms. Wynn?”

“Oh no. He didn’t want their parents to know he was in town. I believe he was staying in their winter home. Only Ms. Wynn knew. The two are very close.”

“Do you know the address of this place?”

“Er, no. I only know that it has a view of Air Temple Island.”

“I see,” he mulled over the clue for a few seconds. “Well, thank you so much for your help. I must be going.”

“Are either of the masters in trouble, sir?”

“I’m not sure. But, if anyone comes by the house, will you call the station and ask for Officer Kogane? There’s an open investigation and I fear for Lotor’s wellbeing.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, glancing to the side. “Kogane, is it? You investigated poor Mel’s death, didn’t you?”

“That’s me, yes.”

“I hope you find whoever’s behind all this, and that Lotor’s not caught up in it. He’s a good man—he seems cruel, I know, but he really is quite kind.”

“Did you know Mel?”

“I work with a cleaning company who employs a lot of people. We’ve worked together before.”

He nodded. “I swear that I’ll figure out what happened to her. What is your name, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“It’s unimportant.”

“I’d like to get in contact with you should I discover—“

“I beg that you drop it,” her frown deepened. “It would get me in trouble.”

He could guess what was bothering her. “You don’t have papers,” he said simply.

“Many of us don’t. I was lucky Lotor and Lance took us in.”

“Because their papers are fake,” he continued. She didn’t respond. “Right, well, that’s not a part of my case, so I hardly care. Again, thank you. I’ll bring Lotor and Lance back soon, I hope. Again, please call me if you think of anything else, especially anything about the Wynns.”

Keith took his leave, satisfied with his new information. He was very interested in this winter estate, though he wasn’t sure how to find it. There were dozens of large manors with views of Air Temple Island; the coast was expansive. As he’d been investigating the Wynns, he hadn’t found any records of a home outside of their primary one.

He decided to head back to HQ, hoping he could finally speak to Lance. He sped past layers of security to the point where he’d been stopped previously. There weren’t nearly as many Northern Water Tribe guards around, which seemed promising. He strayed further and further, till he was just outside the door where he knew top criminals were kept—where Lance, of all people, was being kept.

He opened the door and was met with no resistance. Once inside, even he, a firebender, was uncomfortable with the heat. It was stifling—he knew the room was kept so hot so as to make waterbending harder. He spotted Shiro, who was chatting with an all-too-familiar figure in front of a metal door.

“Shiro!” he called out, rushing to meet his brother.

“Keith,” he said. He turned to his conversation partner. “I’m sure you recognize Avatar Korra. This is my brother, Officer Keith Kogane.”

The Avatar gave a quick smile. “Nice to meet you.”

“Allura’s gone, then?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Can I… Can I speak with him?”

Shiro turned to Korra. “Korra’s been given complete control over… over the prisoner.”

“What? Why?” Shiro tensed at Keith’s tone. “Er, I apologize. But, how is this your jurisdiction? Er, ma’am?”

She chuckled. “It’s fair that you’re skeptical. Chief Beifong requested that I be involved so as to give an air of impartiality. It would be hard for the Republic to take sides in this case, as it declares loyalty to a monarch who was brought to power under questionable circumstances. For the time being, I’m keeping Allura out, which I think we all know is best for Prince Allanse.”

Keith furrowed his brow. “Then can I go in?”

“He’s not in a good state. I’m not sure what they gave him—I’ve never seen anything like it. They wanted me on him so my bloodbending could counteract his. But, in addition, they’ve got him so drugged up that he can barely move, let alone bend.”

“What? Is it blocking his bending?”

She glanced at the ground. “According to him, it is. It’s also interfering with his head. I’m not sure if you want to see him like this, honestly.”

“It can’t be that bad. Please, I need to see him—he may have answers for an investigation.” He hoped he appeared neutral enough that she may sympathize with his cause.

Korra tilted her head. “I thought you were his boyfriend? Don’t you care about him personally?”

He flushed. “Of course I do. I just figured you wouldn’t care.”

She laughed. “Why wouldn’t I care? I don’t see a problem with you going in. Again, just know that Allanse… he may not be himself at the moment, what with the drugs and all.”

“That’s fine.”

“And we’ll be watching out for you, in case… anything happens,” Shiro added. “Not that I think he’ll attack you, but just in case.”

“Right. Thanks,” Keith said. Shiro and Korra shuffled to the side, revealing a metal door. Shiro bent it open—apparently only a metalbender could do so. Keith entered the room, which was even hotter than the last.

Across from him, he saw Lance’s face, contorted in pain. Still, it seemed he was asleep; he was so still, wrapped in an iron, full-body brace.

“Lance?” he attempted to get his attention.

His eyes immediately shot open. “Keith? Is that you?”

Keith took another step forward. Lance struggled in his restraint. “Are you—“

“Keith! Please, you need to help me! I can’t… I can’t move my arms! I can’t move anything! God, it hurts so much!”

His mouth fell open, and he ran till he was in front of Lance. He wanted to reach out to him, to comfort him in some way, but Lance’s cage was suspended several feet above the ground. “Are you hurt? What’s wrong?”

“I can’t bend, Keith! I can’t move! The bending helps, I can heal it, but it’s just so much pain! Please, get me out of here!” Lance was hysteric, Keith could hear it in his voice.

“I don’t understand, you can’t bend what? What are you trying to bend?”

“Myself!”

“What?”

He wriggled once more, crying out in frustration. “What did they give me? My body feels weird!”

“Some drug, I think. Korra said it can block bending, without a bloodbender—“ a curious technique; he wondered who else had access to such a drug.

“I see…” Lance froze, seeming to concentrate on something. “Why are you here?”

“I wanted to make sure you were alright, of course.”

“Well I’m not,” Lance spat. “Allura’s as mad as ever.”

“So you do know her?”

“I never denied that, did I?” He scoffed. “Well, I suppose she never gave the police a chance to question me. Allura rarely takes time to investigate things for herself. All our lives, she’s operated based on assumptions, on first impressions. No matter what the evidence—or lack of evidence—suggests.”

“So you are Allanse, then? The prince?”

“I am.”

“And… you’re a bloodbender?”

He took a deep breath, his wrinkled brow softening. He smiled. “Where is Lotor?”

“What?”

“Why hasn’t he visited me?”

“Oh, that’s also why I came. He didn’t return to your house last night.”

“What?” Lance snapped. His eyes were alert. “Where could he have gone?”

So, Keith thought, Lotor probably wasn’t told to run should they ever be caught. “Where do you think he could be?”

“The party… Ms. Wynn took him outside before I met with you. She was quite adamant about me getting back together with you and thought Lotor was interfering.”

“What did Ms. Wynn know of your situation?”

“Only that we were married for convenience. That I wanted to be with you instead. Why?”

“She and her brother are suspects in my investigation.”

Lance laughed. “Neither can bend. They couldn’t hurt a fly, could they?”

“Do you now who administered this medicine to you?”

“Of course, I recognized them from the research department of the hospital…” he trailed off.

“Owned by the Wynns.” There were several tense moments of silence.

“Do they have him?”

“I don’t know.”

“You have to find him!”

“I don’t know where he could be! Unless you know where their winter home is—“

“Of course I do! It’s that garish orange monster to the north of Harmony Tower!”

“I know the place. I’ll head out as soon as I get a team.”

“No!” he yelled. “There’s no time! If they took him, he could be dead by now!”

“I have to tell my superiors, I can’t just burst in on my own!”

“How sure are you that he’s there?”

“Not very, to be honest. But, your reaction’s making it seem more likely.”

“He would’ve come. He… he had a plan for us, should something like this happen.”

“What plan?”

“I suppose you’ll see. Keith, I’m sorry. I don’t know if… if I’ll see you after this. If this is all a pointless chase. But, I can’t risk it. If Lotor is there, I’ll be back. If not, then this may be goodbye.”

“Lance, what are you saying?”

There was a loud lurch, the sound of metal giving way. Lance’s fist broke through the front of his metal cask. “I love you, Keith. I’m glad I finally got to say it, though I wish it wasn’t under these circumstances.” He gripped the shorn edge, folding the metal to the side like it was nothing more than paper.

Keith instinctively made as if to move, but he found himself frozen to the spot. “What?” He couldn’t budge a single muscle.

“I’m so sorry, but it’s best if you don’t resist too much.” Lance stepped from the case, stepping forward. Instead of falling, naturally, he seemed to float to the ground.

“What are you doing? Can you metalbend?”

He shook his head. “Of course not. I’m a waterbender.”

Keith’s body swirled around, no longer under his control. He’d never had his blood bended before, but he knew that it was the only explanation for what was happening. “Lance, what are you doing?” he took several steps forward toward the door, Lance guiding him all the while.

“Shiro,” Lance called out. “And Avatar Korra. Open the door, or Keith will be out an arm or two.”

They were met with silence.

“After all my lies, you think I’m so loyal to Keith as to not hurt him?” Lance laughed; Keith had never heard him sound so cold.

His body was tossed to the side like trash, but he fell softly. No part of him was hurt, he was simply frozen. Lance grabbed the door, crunching it up in his fist before pulling it off the hinges. Just past the door, Shiro and Korra were lying in wait. Shiro shoved the door toward him, bending it around his shoulders. Lance easily tore through it by simply stretching out his arms.

Korra took control of the situation, holding her hand out and seeming to freeze him.

“Not one more step, Allanse,” she said.

He laughed. “Your bloodbending is impressive.” He shook his head, clearly free of her control. “But it’s not enough.”

At Lance’s feet, a puddle formed, and from it a second figure solidified and rose, matching Lance in form and stance. It rushed at Korra while Shiro watched, frozen in the same way as Keith was.

She moved to block the ice Lance, giving the real Lance the opening he needed to strike. The way he moved… it was unnatural; it was as if his body moved forward without him having to step.

Of course, Korra could move just as quickly, and she matched his strikes with blocks, even getting in a few hits of her own. Lance seemed completely unaffected, either dodging the blows with his strange movements or sending in his ice double to take the hit. Korra seemed to have gotten the upper hand, trapping his legs in rock she’d melted into lava. He struggled against her hold.

“We want to work with you here, Allance,” she said. “Let us help you.”

“It’s not that simple!” he barked. “You’re bound by laws, by Allura.” Finally, he kicked free of the magma. He held out a hand, freezing Korra in place. “I hate to do this to you three. But I have no choice.”

Not even Korra could break from his grasp. “Who are you?”

“You know my name by now, I hope. And right now, I’m the only chance Lotor has at survival.”

“We can go with you!” Keith insisted. “We want you both safe!”

“I believe you,” he began. “But not the Avatar.”

“The way you bend… it’s familiar,” Korra said. “Who taught you?”

“I trained in the north, of course, under the same tutelage as your cousins, I’m sure. But, I learned more than they did; I was forced to.”

“What do you mean?” Keith asked. “Can’t you be truthful finally, like you said you would?”

He frowned. “I don’t have time.”

“How long would it take?”

“Much too long, I’m afraid.”

“Then why don’t you bring me with you? It’s my case—I know a lot about the Wynns, about their patterns. I could help you!”

Lance considered it for a moment. “I don’t know…”

“Please, if you love me, let me help you.” It was a dirty tactic, but he hoped it would sway Lance.

When he regained movement in his limbs, he knew it had worked.

“Alright. I’ll give a summary on the way. But, we have to go now.”

“Keith, think about what you’re doing,” Shiro said. “Aiding and abetting an international criminal?”

“I know.”

“You can stay,” Lance said. “I’ve already thrown off your life; I don’t want to ruin your career.”

Keith crossed the distance to Lance, laying a hand on his cheek. “You’re more to me than that. Now, let’s get going, shall we?”

Lance grabbed his hand, nodding. “Hold on, this is gonna feel weird.”

No amount of preparation could’ve readied Keith for what came next. It was as if his body was being pulled, though he couldn’t pinpoint any one part that was receiving the bulk of the force. Instead, as a unit, he and Lance hovered up the stairs and down the hallway till they were outside, neither of them having taken a step. They only stopped a few blocks away from the station, Lance falling back against an alley wall, panting heavily.

“You should rest,” Keith said, grabbing him so as to steady him better. “We can walk while you gather your strength.”

“Right,” Lance nodded. “Sorry, I had to get out of there. I could still feel a bit of the drug, and it was getting to me. I only need a few minutes, then we can do… that again.”

“Care to explain what ‘that’ was.”

“Well, bloodbending, of course.”

“Casual.”

He chuckled. “I suppose I’ll start from the beginning, then. But, let’s walk north—for the docks. It’s near the Wynn home.”

Keith supported his weight, dragging him along. “I’m with you no matter what, Lance. I don’t care that you’re a bloodbender.”

“Even though I used it against you?”

“You had to, right? For Lotor?”

“You’re too kind,” he shook his head. “Alright. It's time for the truth, finally. It started many years ago, when King Alfor met my mother, Luri…”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey friends! this one is mainly back-story, but i promise we'll get back to the plot in the next chapter! but, finally, the truth! :o
> 
> also, i know it seems i'm only making allura a bad guy in this, but i swear that she will be redeemed! she was just... young when this all went down. i hope to explore her motivations and the consequences in later chapters of this fic

Luri had been a simple woman, young and still a bit naïve. She worked in Alfor’s home—he wasn’t in the palace, not yet—as a chef, and she was very gifted. On her first night, she caught the attention of Agell, Alfor’s wife, who’d become afflicted with a weak stomach due to her first child. She’d been unable to stomach some of her favorite foods, and was growing frailer by the day, despite her healer’s efforts to keep her at full strength. When she tried Luri’s food, though, she became ravenous, and ate more than she’d been able to in weeks. Alfor immediately requested more food and that Luri be assigned to provide for his wife specifically.

She did, and she was happy to do so. She never expected that her sudden promotion would earn her anything more than money, but she was delighted to find a friend in Agell. Luri would stay up with her when her body rebelled against her, ensuring that she ate well and seemed in health. Months later, at the birth of Allura, Alfor personally gifted her with an expensive necklace as a show of his thanks.

Of course, Agell became so busy with caring for Allura that she lost time for Luri. She hardly minded, and she happily returned to her other friends who worked in the manor. Agell grew closer and closer to Allura, but oddly enough, Alfor was distant from his daughter and wife, though she was too enamored with their daughter to notice. Luri came to him one afternoon with one of his favorite treats, a traditional smoked meat pie. It was the first time he’d smiled since Allura’s birth.

She kept baking for him, speaking with him, urging him to see Agell, to see his daughter. A month later, he held Allura for the first time. From then on, he was the doting father Agell had always expected him to be. Glad she coaxed him out of his shell, Luri retreated once more into her world of work, never telling Agell that Alfor had confided in her, of his fear that he’d lose them, that he’d be a bad father.

When Allura was two years old, her mother contracted an odd fever of sorts. It escalated quickly, and within weeks she was completely bedridden. She was irritable and somewhat irrational, too, rejecting Alfor and Allura’s visits. Fearing that she’d do or say something harsh to their daughter, Alfor thought it best to send Allura away till her mother’s illness subsided; he sent her to his trusted friend, Zarkon’s, home, as he had a son of the same age, and he figured they could watch over her well.

Agell’s condition only worsened, but it wasn’t only her body that was failing her, but her mind too. It was as if a dark cloud had fallen over her spirit, and she wasn’t the same. Her words stung Alfor more and more, till he couldn’t take it anymore, refusing to visit her. The healers were baffled with such a shift in temperament—how could it have arisen from what had seemed to be a simple flu?

Luri hadn’t been allowed to visit Agell, so she did the next best thing and consoled Alfor in his time of need, insisting that the sickness was to blame, that Agell was still in there, somewhere, waiting to be healed so everything could get back to normal.

Perhaps it was the tense air of the palace, or simply an attraction that had been slowly building for years. Neither party were particularly proud of themselves for what they did, but the pair found a comfort in each other, beyond just their physical bond. For a time, Alfor and Luri were happy; Luri was the first to feel the pangs of guilt when she visited Agell in her final days. Not wanting to deal with the aftermath, she fled the palace for her home village, knowing already that Alfor’s son was growing inside her.

She lived with her parents till Allanse was born; from her new home she heard of Agell’s passing, after which she sent a letter to Alfor with her condolences, as worthless as she knew they were. He sent a letter in return, thanking her for her support as well as requesting that she cease any further contact with him—he feared that one day Allura would discover his infidelity. Luri hardly had a problem with that, as she knew she was perfectly capable of raising Lance without Alfor in his life.

Lance didn’t grow up alone, however. In addition to his grandparents, Luri remarried and had four more children with her new husband. For years, Lance never knew who his father was, only that he lived in the capitol and that Luri didn’t like to speak of him. Eventually, she told Lance the truth, not that he begrudged her for the affair. As far as he was concerned, his mother was nothing less than perfect—he was still a child, after all, and to him both his parents were without fault.

Lance’s step-father, on the other hand, was less understanding, though not due to jealousy. Greed drove his cruel actions: he wrote to Alfor himself, calling him negligent for abandoning Lance. It was the first Alfor had heard of his son, of course, and he immediately came to the village. Lance met him for the first time when he was eight years old. Luri’s husband demanded that Alfor give them money to atone for his years spent ‘abandoning’ Lance, and he agreed; Luri was unaware.

His step-father pocketed all the money Alfor sent him instead of using it on Lance and their other children. Eventually, Luri caught on, and she confronted him for it. Things at home were getting bad, everyone was always yelling, his step-father took to drinking, he lost his job. Lance wrote to the kind man he barely knew, hoping he could help. The solution they came up with was to send Lance to the capitol for his education, to ensure that Alfor’s financial support was being put to its intended use.

He still visited his village, but every time he came back, his siblings thought him too stuffy. They called him ‘prince’, though it wasn’t with any respect. The only person he felt he could confide in was his mother, but she was so busy raising her other children; she said that Lance was old enough to take care of himself, that perhaps it would be best if he visited less often since Alfor had so many more resources than them. He agreed without a second thought, always thinking of his family first.

The kids in school weren’t too kind to him, either. They knew who he was, knew what Alfor had done. Among them, Allura was the cruelest, convinced somehow that his mother had facilitated her mother’s decline in order to be with Alfor, as ridiculous as it was. Lance took the teasing, the occasional shoves, without question; he was simply grateful to be fed and educated in such a nice home.

When he befriended Lotor, Allura was furious—that was _her_ playmate, not Lance’s, she insisted. She wanted to keep Lotor like a favored toy, not letting him play with anyone else. Lotor simply liked Lance’s company better, however, so he tended to spend all his free time with the younger boy; only part of it was him wanting to spite his sworn rival Allura. Lance was happy with the attention, regardless. Eventually, Allura swallowed her pride and even started hanging out with the two of them. Sure, she made Lance play as all the bad characters, the witch or the villain or, on occasions, the ‘evil mistress’, but he was just glad that his older sister was finally letting him in.

He should’ve been suspicious when Allura asked him to play, just the two of them, in the early hours of the evening one day. They weren’t supposed to leave the manor’s grounds, but Allura wanted to show him a new move she’d learned in her waterbending training. Being two years older than him, and himself only having just started learning waterbending, he was eager to see what she had been taught.

They snuck out just after dinner, not a single guard aware that they’d left. She took him out to the mountains, where a small brook flowed year-round despite the chilly weather.

“It’s just this way,” she said. “We worked with ice today.”

“That’s so cool!” his admiration was abundantly clear. Allura puffed up at the praise—as much as she hated Lance, he was always a dependable source for kind words. “I’m still pushing and pulling on the beach,” he pouted.

“It’s probably for the best. My family has a long history of talented benders. You, on the other hand, might just end up hurting yourself or someone else.”

“You think so?”

She nodded. “I mean, you took it up too late—most of us learned when we were children.”

“Maybe you’re right…” it was true that he struggled with bending; he was embarrassed to be in the same class as people half his age.

“Stand over there,” she gestured toward the stream. “Actually, kneel down in front of the water.”

“Okay,” he obeyed without question. “Now what?”

“Be patient,” Allura barked. She raised her hands, immediately taking control over the water. Lance watched, fascinated, as it rose and snaked toward him.

“So cool!” he cheered. The water reached his hands, then slithered up his arms. He giggled at the sensation, hardly even noticing just how cold the water was, that it was already seeping through his thin shirt. He wiggled his fingers, Allura’s control unbothered by the external force.

“Isn’t it?” she smirked. She closed her fists. The water turned to ice, trapping his arms.

“Whoa!” his mouth fell open. He tried to move his arms, but he couldn’t. “How did you do that?”

“It’s really quite simple,” she moved her hands, and the icy tendrils inched up his arm. “I think I like working with ice better than water, honestly. It’s more painful.”

“Painful?” he frowned. “I guess it’s kind of hard, yeah.”

“Much sharper than water.”

The cold was starting to set in. He shivered. “Can you let me go now, Allura?”

“Why would I do that?” she chuckled.

He tried to pull himself free, but the ice had him completely ensnared. He couldn’t even get good enough footing to try and stand up, he was already hunched over the bank. “Lura, it’s cold!” he grunted, still pulling. The ice was only thickening, a steady supply from the river freezing over the first few layers. “Stop it! You’re hurting me.”

Her laugh was even colder than the ice. “You’re always such a baby.” She stepped to his side, bending over to glare at him. “A timeout should do you some good.”

“What are you gonna do, leave me here?” he yelled. “They’ll notice that I’m gone!”

“Please, as if anyone at home cares about where you are,” she rolled her eyes. “When will you get it through that thick skull of yours? This isn’t your family, I’m not your sister, you’re not one of us,” she spat. “You’re nothing more than a spare, the son of a whore who ruined my family’s lives!”

“Don’t take about my mom like that!” he shouted. “You’re so selfish! Why can’t you just let me be happy here?”

“Because you don’t deserve to be happy! To be here!” she stomped her foot. “You don’t deserve my father’s love, he’s my dad!”

“He’s mine too!”

“I wish you were never born!”

He sniffed, attempting to reign in the tears.

“You come in, take him away from me. Now you try and take my friends, too? Everyone thinks you’re so kind, so charming,” she crossed her arms. “You are a burden, and that’s all. A filthy little beggar who’s only kept around because people pity you.”

“Stop it!” he cried.

She turned her back to him, stepping away from the brook.

“Where… where are you going?”

“Home, of course, _my_ home. For your sake, I’d recommend you not return.”

“You’re leaving me? I’ll freeze!”

“Don’t be an idiot. It will melt in a few hours.”

“You can’t do this to me! I’m your brother!”

“You’re nothing to me!”

“Daddy will notice that I’m gone! Lotor—“

“Lotor’s spending the weekend at his home, he’s gone. And father thinks you’ve gone with him. No one will notice you’re gone, because no one loves you.”

“That’s not true!” he shook his head. “They do love me, because I’m actually good to them! To my friends, unlike you.”

She raised her arms; the ice tightened its grip. “Just shut up! Gods, you never know when to quit, don't you?”

“Allura, don’t do this, please.”

She left without another word, without even turning back.

He struggled for a few minutes, but failed to get himself free. He wasn’t strong enough physically to make a dent, and he couldn’t bend the ice away. He hunched over, trying to melt the ice with his breath. But, as the minutes turned to hours, as the sun fell and the moon appeared, his breaths grew cold, shallow. His tears had frozen to his cheeks and lashes, frost clouding his vision as he finally gave in to his exhaustion.

When he awoke, he was warm, stiflingly so. He couldn’t move, and the familiar sensation sent him into a panic; he fought his restraints, startled to find himself swaddled in a fur blanket.

“Quit it,” a sharp voice commanded. His eyes snapped open, immediately finding the source.

“Who are you?” his own voice was hoarse—he supposed the hours of crying and screaming for help were to blame.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Where am I? Did you save me?”

“You’re in my home. And yes, I did—and you’re lucky I did, too. By the time I found you, you were near death. Why you would be out in a storm is beyond me—“

“A storm? What do you mean?” How long had he slept? What had he missed? He cleared his throat. “Thank you for your help. Can you tell me where I am? I need to get back to my family. They must be worried.”

“I can, in a few days, maybe. There’s no way you can travel in this weather, not in your state.”

“My state? What’s wrong with me?”

She frowned, tearing her gaze from him to look at her own hands. “Why were you in the mountains?” she asked.

“I… I was playing,” he lied. “I must have fallen asleep.”

“I’m not an idiot, boy,” she scoffed. “There was still ice on your hands by the time I found you. You’d been there a while, judging by the damage. It’s not as if the river trapped you, is it?”

“No…” he frowned. Allura would surely hate him even more if he got her in trouble. “Someone attacked me. I don’t remember much—my father is wealthy, they must’ve known. They threatened me, froze me and took my bag.”

“A young boy playing in the mountains with a bag of riches, huh?” She rose, crossing the room to his side. “A boy who’s bad at lying—you should practice that, it’s a useful skill to have. Who’s your father, then?”

“Alfor, but—“

The woman gasped. Then, she smiled. “Oh, you’re the bastard then.” She grabbed his chin with a clammy hand, turning it back and forth. “You look much more like the servant, that’s for sure.”

“Who are you?” he repeated his question.

“My name is Honerva. My sister was Agell.”

“Oh.”

“Indeed.”

“Wait, that means… you’re Lotor’s mother?”

She nodded.

“But, I thought you were dead.”

“Hardly. Banished, but very much alive. Luckily for you.”

“Why were you banished?”

“They were convinced that I killed my sister.”

“Oh,” he repeated. “Why?”

“Because I hated her.”

“Why?”

“Years of cruel treatment, you wouldn’t understand.”

He laughed bitterly. “You’d be surprised.”

She hummed. “I have some unfortunate news for you.”

“What is it?”

She grabbed the blanket around his shoulders, pulling it down. He saw her hand brush his arm, but he couldn’t feel it. “You were there for so long, hours, perhaps a day? The ice and the pressure, the time… I’m a trained healer, but even I couldn’t do anything for you.”

His arms were free, limp at his sides. He tried to lift them, but failed.

“Unfortunately,” she continued. “You’ve lost all function of your arms. Movement, even sensation. They’re completely dead.”

He hardly heard her, too focused on watching his arms. His mind strained, he could feel himself sweating. But, they didn’t budge.

Honerva must’ve expected his freak out, as she was quick to restrain him when he began thrashing in the bed.

“Calm yourself,” she said. “It’s not the end of the world—you’re alive aren’t you?

“I can’t feel them!” he cried. “Nothing at all! How is any of this good?”

“I wanted to leave you there,” she hissed. “Why bother saving someone like you, a dumb little brat? But, I sensed something in you, a strength. You have hidden potential, much greater than I’ve seen in any of my sister’s damnable family.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is not a weakness, but a chance for you to be stronger than them, to get your revenge.”

“Revenge? For what?”

“Let me train you,” she insisted. “I can give you your arms back.”

“How is that possible? You said yourself you couldn’t heal them! That they were dead!”

“Death isn’t permanent, if you know the right tricks,” she smiled.

There was a strange, foreign sensation in his arm; it rose, fingers splayed out. They wiggled, appearing natural as ever.

“What is this?” he watched, fascinated, as the digits turned, his arm moving of its own accord.

“Bloodbending.”

He flinched at the word. “You’re doing this? Stop it!”

“Oh, but don’t you see?” his hand touched his cheek gently—it was cold. “You can be normal, again, you can do this too, if you let me teach you.”

“But… it’s illegal.”

She shrugged. “You’ve been fed a lot of the tired old lies under Alfor, I’m sure. This… this is progress. Imagine, if everyone accepted this… the healing that could be done... You could have your arms back!”

“Maybe they’ll heal on their own! Maybe I don’t need to resort to this!” he insisted. She stopped bending, his arm falling into his lap.

“Fine. Be like the rest of them, too afraid of the unknown to even try.”

He frowned. “I… I am grateful that you saved me. But, how could I learn that? I can hardly even bend!”

She placed a hand on his back, then tutted loudly. “It’s your chi, I’ve never seen anyone so blocked up—why someone as young as you is carrying so much pain… so much sorrow. I’m sorry for whatever’s happened to you. Surely you didn’t deserve it.”

“No… I’m not sad! I have so much in my life, two families, a home… it’s… it’s fine.”

There was a burning pulse stemming from the center of his back. “Let me just fix some of this for you.”

He screamed at the pain, falling forward. “Stop! That hurts!”

“Well, of course. Healing usually does.”

He was breathing deeply, shuddering as the sensation rippled through him. “What… did you do?”

“Unblocked some pathways. It’s hard to bend when your emotions and anxiety are controlling you. This will help, whether you follow my teaching or not.”

The physical pain passed, but in its wake a consuming sorrow at his lot: how had he never realized the truth? How hurt he was, how much the people in his life were hurting him? He smiled and laughed everyday, never letting on that he was anything less than fine. But, why?

“What’s happening?” tears were flowing freely. He moved to wipe them, but of course his arms didn’t respond.

Honerva grabbed a small cloth and patted away the tears. “You were bottling things up for so long. It’s alright to be sad, to be angry and hurt. You have every right to feel the way you do.”

“But,” he sniffed. “I shouldn’t be ungrateful. Allura’s right—Alfor never owed me a thing.”

“He’s your father, it’s not up for debate whether he should care for you.”

“He gives me so much already… it’s unfair of me to want more!”

“Does he hold you? Does he spend the time with you as he does with Allura? Does he speak to you, let you confide in him? Or is it guilt that motivates him?”

“I… my mother… she was the other woman. He never wanted me…”

She rubbed his back, cooing soothingly. “You’re a kind, bright boy, Lance. Alfor doesn’t see it, nor does Allura, even your mother. You show them strength, they believe it, and they treat you accordingly. But, you’re so young, so naïve. You will be strong, someday, when you grow into it. In the meantime, let someone else take on some of your pain. Be honest with your emotions, think of yourself above others.”

“But… that’s horrible!”

“It’s necessary. Tell me, Lance, who did this to you?”

He shook his head. “I can’t…”

“Tell me.”

“It…” he scrunched up his eyes. “Gods, it was Allura! That… that bitch!” he gasped at his curse. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t say that!”

“No, you should. Be honest, Lance. I don’t want you to think you need to lie, to censor yourself.”

“She… she fucking left me to die? Out of jealousy!” he laughed. “She thought I was stealing your son from her! Just because I don’t spend our time together threatening him so he likes me better!”

Honerva laughed. “She sounds like a piece of work.”

“That’s not even the worst of it—believe it or not. She’s always lying about me, telling dad that I’m failing classes or getting in trouble or breaking things! But, I’m not! I’m great in school, much better than her!”

“I’m sure you are.”

He felt the tension in his shoulders slowly leaving. “And my dad, jeez, he’s a… a real jerk, too! He acts like what he’s doing for me is so noble, but housing is like the bare minimum, isn’t it?”

She nodded. “It is.”

“I just… I’ve never spoken like this, so freely!”

“It feels good, doesn’t it?”

“It does!”

“It does wonders for your body, for your health. You get looser, more confident—it’s a simple way to become better at bending, actually, just being in tune with your emotions.”

“That’s amazing! Why don’t they tell us that?”

“There are many things kept from people, it’s a way to control you. They kicked me out because I thought to question the old ways.”

“That’s dumb!”

“It is. Tell me, Lance, would you like me to teach you for a time? Perhaps not the bloodbending, but healing? Waterbending? Maybe you’re right: maybe your arms will heal on their own.”

“I… I don’t know.”

“You can decide when the storm has passed where you want to go. Whatever your decision, I’ll help you.”

“Okay,” he smiled. “Thank you.”

She brushed his hair back, smiling. “It’s my pleasure.”

 

* * *

 

 

“I eventually decided to stay with her, and she was like a mother to me—she was harsh at times, but simply because she was honest, but it was never directed at me negatively. Eventually, I did learn bloodbending, and it was the best decision I made. It’s so much more than just moving my arms: I can actually feel with them, sometimes, feel the change in pressure in the muscles when I touch things…. I can keep the blood flowing through them so they’re warm and looking a proper color. I massage them and heal the random cuts I get when I’m clumsy and bump into things.

“Beyond that, though, I can defy typical limits of the body. By controlling the blood, I can exert more force than the muscles alone could. I have to be careful not to break the skin that’s holding it in, since that’s all our bodies are: vessels for the power that’s within. It’s how I was able to tear through the metal, how I could push us through space so quickly, how I can almost fly, at times! I’m not held back by my body, anymore, and I’ve become stronger than I ever thought possible.

“I trained with her for a few years, and then the whole business with Unalaq happened. Honerva recommended that I make my return, so I did. I began my journey to Alfor’s new palace, and he accepted me with open arms, thinking me dead for years. Allura was shocked to see me, but she didn’t say anything—I’m sure she feared that I’d rat her out. Lotor and I reignited our friendship, and things were looking up. No one suspected me, and why would they? It had become second nature to me—I had all my mannerisms of old, my usual movements, thanks to bloodbending.

“They still hurt, at times, and as my relationship progressed with Lotor, I decided to tell him the truth. He’d thought his mother dead, too, so he was shocked by my story for multiple reasons. He was faithful through it all, though, promising not to tell a soul.

“Unfortunately, Allura had ears throughout the palace, and she eventually found out. She outed me to her father, to the guard. Said that I’d obviously been sent by Honerva to ‘finish the job’ of ending her whole family. It was ridiculous, of course, we all knew it. Alfor didn’t want to appear weak, however, so he agreed to the trial. I wouldn’t stand for such treatment, not after all that she’d put me through. I didn’t want to hurt them, though, so I ran.

“I don’t even know how he did it—Lotor is a surprisingly resourceful man, though perhaps given his genes I should expect it. He faked his death, helped me escape, found people in Ba Sing Se who’d accept a generous bribe in exchange for discretion and a home. Eventually, we moved here for a fresh start, the business with the car accident putting a bit of a strain on our hiding place.” He sighed. “I had such high hopes here, to be honest. I never thought I’d see Allura ever again…”

Keith waited, expecting him to speak further. When he didn’t, he cleared his throat. “Thank you, Lance, for telling me this. I’m so sorry that this happened to you. You didn’t deserve it—no one could deserve that. I think you should testify in court. If you tell them what you told me, surely they’ll be on your side. What Allura did… it’s horrible! She should be the one in jail, not you.”

“You may be right, but… she’s family. I know she’s guilty about it, though she shows it in a weird way. I’ve forgiven her, forgiven everyone for what’s happened.” Another sigh. “But I am tired. I’m tired of running. I want to be truthful with who I am, with what I’ve done—hiding things only hurts people in the end.”

“Whatever you decide, I’ll be there with you.”

“What if I run again? I could.”

“After all that we’ve been through, what I’ve had to do to get you back… you’ll be hard pressed to get away from me.” He took Lance’s hand in his own.

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t even be strong enough to hide from you for long.” He squeezed Keith’s hand. “Does it bother you, knowing all this? Forgive me for bringing Lotor into this, but he was a bit weirded out with me touching him after he found out. I mean, he got used to it obviously, but for a while he didn’t like it since it wasn’t, you know... me?”

Keith frowned. He hadn’t actually thought of it in that way, not till Lance mentioned it. He shook his head. “How is it ‘not you’? I mean, it’s your bending that’s making you move, making you touch me. That’s more you than anything I can think of, and since I love you, of course I’d love something that comes from the most intimate part of you: your mind, your spirit, your whole essence goes into moving your arms, goes into touching me or holding me. I think that’s incredible, that you care enough about me to connect with me in such a way.”

“Oh my spirits,” he choked. “You sometimes have a real way with words, Keith. Don’t get me wrong, most of the time you’re completely hopeless, but you have the occasional gem that just steals my breath.”

“I’m a firm believer in quality over quantity,” he shrugged.

Lance snorted. “I love that about you. And I love you.”

Keith smiled. “Are you ready for what’s next?”

“Ready to go into a potential battle to save my husband with my boyfriend beside me?”

Keith pouted. “Why do you have to bring that up now?”

“Figured it would rile you up, get your blood flowing—it’s good for fighting.”

“How pragmatic of you.”

Another winning smile. “I guess I’m ready,” he answered Keith’s question. “With you by my side, I’ll take on the world.”

They were in front of the Wynn’s winter home, Lance’s lengthy story having filled the duration of their journey.

“We’ll find him,” Keith promised.

“I know.”

“He’ll be just fine,” he was less sure about that, but he spoke with confidence anyway.

Lance nodded. “How should we go in: stealthy or blasting?”

“Up to you.”

“What the hell, I feel like blasting is the answer in this case.”

“Blasting it is then.”

Lance turned, pulled Keith close. He pressed a long-lasting kiss to his lips. “Ready then, partner?”

Keith nodded. He raised his fist, a ball of fire shooting toward the wooden door, consuming it in seconds. The pair rushed through the opening, ready for whatever the Wynns may throw at them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yooo so i started this before s3, so if you notice any naming inconsistencies (haggar vs honerva), that's my bad. I'm gonna go back and fix that, though it won't change the story at all. maybe allura and them just call her haggar cuz they're rude lol. anywho, i expect 1-2 chapters and an epilogue left in this! it's been a super fun story to write, honestly, like i don't know if i'll ever get over the avatar universe. I've also loved making Lotor a good guy and having Allura with more questionable actions. hopefully they weren't too ooc, i've tried my best to just adapt them to certain life situations rather than rework them completely, you know?

The sound of their rapid steps filled the eerily empty home. Furniture was covered in white sheets, a healthy layer of dust coating the pristine cloths.

“Seems abandoned to me,” Keith noted, never lowering his hands.

“Hold on a second,” Lance squatted down, hovering his hands over the floorboards. His focus was elsewhere, Keith could tell, though on what he wasn’t sure. Lance rose, stepping through the front room and into an unlit hallway. “There are four bodies in a basement. I think the stairs are this way.”

“Was Lotor there?” Keith asked—could Lance even distinguish people in that way?

“I’m not sure, they were pretty far away. I picked up on a few other sources of water, though these were still, definitely not bodies.”

“Would they… they couldn’t have felt that, right? You… er, sensing them?”

“I’m not so careless as that,” he rolled his eyes.

“These other sources… what were they?” Keith asked, fearing that he may already know the answer.

“They weren’t as easy to get a hold of as water… but it wasn’t like any blood I’ve ever bent before. It was completely still. And there were a lot of them.”

He swallowed thickly. It seemed he’d found his perp. “Let’s not kill anyone, if possible. We need to bring in the Wynns for questioning.”

Lance nodded. “I can’t believe Rona would do something like this—she’s a sweetheart.”

“I don’t think she’s working alone,” Keith said. “Did you ever meet her brother?”

“Rohair? No, never. Why?”

“Did she speak about him?”

“Only of their childhood, I think. They didn’t seem particularly close, though they weren't enemies. They just lived completely separate lives.”

“What about a man by the name of Harry?”

A flash of recognition crossed Lance’s face. “She would talk about someone named Harry, go and meet with him after our lunches sometimes. Is he… is that Rohair?”

“I think it is.”

“Makes sense, to use a new name. It’s an effective tactic,” he frowned slightly.

“Are you alright?” Keith asked.

“Yeah. I just… I don’t think I can thank you enough, Keith, for sticking with me through this. I lied to you, so many times, about such huge things. I’d hate me if I were you. Hell, I hate myself for it.”

He grabbed Lance’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. “We’ll talk about this eventually, but not now. When everything’s over. ...I’m not gonna lie—I was hurt when you lied, all the stuff with Lotor. I understand why you did it, to protect both of you, but I still… I told you so much, you know, and so quickly. Everyone told me I was stupid for it, but I couldn’t help it—I trusted you. And, well, I don’t wanna say that you betrayed that trust, but I would’ve liked it if you’d trusted me just as much.”

“I know. And, I do! Trust you, that is. I swear that’s the last of my secrets from now on.” His smile was weak. “You’re stuck with a banished bastard prince for a long time, if you'll have me.”

“That’s fine by me.”

Lance had brought them to the end of a hallway, not a door in sight.

“What’s this?” Keith asked.

“I think if you burn through this, we’ll be able to drop down to the basement level.” It was almost like Keith was on a mission with an adept earthbender, able to sense people completely out of sight.

“How close are they to where we’ll land?”

“It’s a few rooms away.”

“Can you fight without your bending?” Keith asked.

“Why?”

“Well, if the Wynns were the ones who funded research on that drug, it’s possible that Rona and Rohair have access to it, isn’t it? They could use it against us.”

“That is possible,” he frowned. “I’m a bit… useless without my bending—no arms and all, my balance gets thrown off. I mean, I could kick them, I guess?”

“You’re not useless, not one bit,” Keith pat his back. “But, just be prepared to be without your bending. Lotor’s a waterbender, isn’t he? They probably either knocked him out, or are using the drug on him.”

“You’re right, he probably would’ve resisted. Like I said before, though, his bending’s not the best. He was pretty adept at sparring without it, though.”

“Back in the cell… how did you fight the poison?”

“It’s kinda weird…” he glanced to the side. “Learned it during my old healing training. A bit archaic of a practice, but I figured it’d be the only way. I had no idea I’d been drugged, not till you said something. Because of that, I was able to focus a bit more and get rid of it.”

“What’d you do?”

“I let some of my blood out, tried to draw the poison out.”

“How the hell did you do that? I thought you couldn’t bend?”

“I couldn’t. It would’ve been nice, to get a cleaner cut,” he lifted the sleeve on his arm, a large, whitened scar stark against his tan skin. There were more healed scars, some long, others short, others simple dots. A number of bruises, some dark and others fading, were there, too. “It was hard, but that coffin had some sharp edges I could use to open the wound.”

“It looks painful.” Keith winced, remembering.

“I didn’t feel a thing. After a bit, I felt some of my control coming back. I healed it quick enough, and then I was back.”

“Did you lose a lot of blood?”

He shrugged. “Most likely. But, we hardly have time to dwell on that now, do we? If we don’t hurry, Lotor could be losing a lot more.”

“Alright. I’ll blast a hole. You ready?”

“Yeah. Hold onto me, I’ll give us a soft landing. I won’t even bloodbend you this time around.”

As much as he loved Lance, as much as he could accept him bloodbending himself, hearing that his own body wouldn’t be bent was a comfort. “Well, it’s now or never.”

“Kinda lame we have to make two cool entrances,” Lance whined. “I was hoping more people would’ve been around when we came in.”

“I’m perfectly content with as few enemies as possible.”

“Boring.”

He rolled his eyes, then, sent a wave of fire toward the wall. It caught quickly, leaving a sizable hole through which they both could pass. He extinguished the light before it could get out of hand. Lance held out his arm, and Keith took it. Lance took a single step into the air, remaining level with Keith who stayed behind on the floor.

“Don’t be scared,” he laughed, tugging Keith’s hand. “Just hold on tight, otherwise I will have to grab you by the blood.”

“That’s so weird.”

He pouted. “So you are weirded out by me!”

“I have plenty of reasons to be weirded out by you. Your bloodbending is the least of them, honestly.”

“What are you saying?”

“You like to eat raw sealshark!”

“It’s chewy!” he tugged again. “Let’s save this for later, can we? Floating here is a bit exhausting, you know.”

“Right,” he began. He took one tentative step then decided, fuck it, and jumped the distance. Lance caught him against his body, the pair of them simply floating in the shaft.

“Was that so hard?” Lance let them fall, though it wasn’t nearly as fast as it would’ve been had gravity been in full control of them.

“Yeah, a little bit,” he confessed. “How deep is this thing?”

“Three, four stories? Not too bad. I’d have put my evil murder lair much deeper.”

“Noted.”

He laughed. “Please, Keith, the way you’ve talked about your little perps… the world’s lucky you never turned evil yourself. You’d be a force to be reckoned with. You’re too smart for your own good.”

“Can’t be too smart if I ended up with you,” he joked.

Lance whined, dropping Keith a few feet away from the bottom. He landed well enough, watching as Lance glided the remaining distance, arms crossed and a petulant pout on his face.

“I’m just teasing,” he said. Lance turned away sharply.

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” he responded.

“You say that a lot.”

“’Cause I mean it,” he took a step forward, then paused. “Hold up,” he raised a hand, stopping Keith.

“Are you okay?”

“I… I’m a bit winded.”

“Do you need to rest? You don’t have to fight. I can take these people on my own.”

“What if you’re without your bending?”

He patted his hip, his trusty dagger at his side. “I’m trained in the classical art of street brawls. I can handle myself.”

“I won’t leave you to fight on your own. Just… give me a second.”

It was the most weary he’d ever seen Lance, but looking back, Lance was almost always a bit low in physical energy. He went to bed early, slept in late. He himself said he could only handle a few hours of socializing before he had to rest. “How much energy do you use to keep up appearances?” Keith asked.

“Huh?”

“Bending your arms every waking hour… making it look so natural. No wonder you’re always so tired!” now he felt bad for the times he accused Lance of being lazy.

“Oh, well, yeah. It can be tough. Gosh, I thought I was gonna pass out during our matches!” he laughed. “I prefer to not use movements while bending, but I had to fake that while also trying not to get my ass beat.”

“That’s… geez, you’re incredible,” he breathed.

Lance grinned. “You would be impressed by that. How’s this for you: sometimes I bend them in my sleep, even. The blood flows through them, keeping them warm, without a thought.”

“You have punched me in your sleep on occasions… that’s subconscious bending? So your body never rests!”

“I guess it doesn’t, not really.”

“You should let yourself take a break—doesn’t it hurt?”

“It hurts more when I do nothing, though, when they just sit there, dead. Back in the cell, gods, they felt like there were on fire! I think the bending… it makes them feel better—well, not in pain, at least.”

“Is it like… phantom limb pain? But, you actually have the limbs still,” he mused. “When Shiro lost his arm, he described the pain similarly. There are therapies for that kind of thing. I really think you can get better help after this.”

“I’m not gonna stop bloodbending. I’m used to having my two arms to use how I want.”

“I know, I know, and I don’t think you should. But, I think that you don’t have to use all your energy just to make yourself look a certain way.”

“It’s not all for aesthetics,” he waved his arm, then paused. “My mannerisms are second nature to me. It’s my personality. Like you said, it’s like, an intimate part of me, or whatever.”

“Of course. I just don’t want you to exhaust yourself.”

“Thanks,” he smiled. “That’s sweet of you.”

“You ready yet for our third and final entrance?”

“Yeah, let’s get ‘em.”

 

* * *

 

 For all the buildup, the face-off was lackluster. Even Keith, who was never one for showmanship, could admit that. Still, placing the cuffs on Rona, Rohair, and a doctor he identified as their distant cousin while Lance saw to a knocked-out Lotor was rewarding all on its own. They weren’t very prepared: the doctor had ample drug on his person to handle Keith and Lance twice over, but he couldn’t land a hit on them with his syringe to save his life. Rona and Rohair weren’t benders, but they did have guns. Lance easily twisted their arms behind them, preventing them from getting a shot off.

Keith didn’t cuff Lance, despite his criminal status, but he couldn’t stop Shiro when he showed up with backup from cuffing Lance himself.

“It’s alright, Keith,” Lance smiled as he joined Rona in the police van. “I said I’d accept the consequences, didn’t I? This is the only way for things to work out. I need to finish my trial.”

“I’ll testify on your behalf. No one will believe Allura’s lies, alright?”

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to get a fair trial in the Northern Water Tribe.”

“What?” he shouted.

Shiro shook his head. “Lance will be joining Allura and Coran’s transport ship. His trial will be in the north.”

“No,” he shook his head. “That’s not fair!”

“It’s okay, Keith, things will work out, I know it. She may not know about Lotor yet, and he’ll be our ace. I need you to listen to him, whatever it is. He has a plan.”

“Okay… but if they mistreat you in any way…”

He laughed. “Don’t start a war on my behalf, love. We’ll be together soon, I promise. Just, make sure Lotor is okay, bask in the glory of a solved case. Tell Hunk and Pidge I’m sorry for missing the next match.”

“Lance… stop thinking of others first all the time! Be selfish for once!”

“The last time I was selfish I lied to the love of my life; I hurt him. I don’t want to hurt you anymore, Keith.” In a show of strength, he broke free of the metal cuffs. Shiro sighed, knowing he’d have to have them replaced. Lance grabbed Keith’s face, a bit roughly, then pulled him forward, kissing him deeply. He parted them with a smirk. “Don’t miss me too much, alright?”

Keith scoffed. “Are you joking?”

Lance hopped into the car, waving at Keith. “I love you.”

“I know.”

He gasped, glaring. “Rude!”

Keith shook his head. “I’ll come for you, alright? Just hold out till Lotor and I can save you.”

“Wil do.”

Shiro shut the door to the van, patting the metal and signaling to the driver that everyone was in. “I’m sorry about this, Keith.”

“It’s fine, I understand. How did Allura take the news?”

“She actually doesn’t know yet—it’s still early, she hasn’t come back to HQ. Korra and I covered for you.”

“You did?”

“Of course, as if I’d let you get in trouble. Especially when you and Lance are in the right.”

“You think so?”

“I do.”

“You don’t even know the full story!”

“But you trust him, don’t you?”

“Obviously. But all he’s done is lie to me. I thought you hated him. Us.”

Shiro frowned. “Why would you think that?”

“You said we went to fast… all those things.”

“I was rude, I know, but I was just worried. You’re my little brother, Keith—how could I not be upset with someone who hurt you? But, you’ve forgiven him, so I should too. And it’s clear that he’s trying to make things right.”

Avatar Korra approached them. “We should get him back soon, before Allura notices.”

“Can you… can you not give him that drug again? It hurt him.”

She nodded. “I’ve already accidentally destroyed the syringes we were given. No one should have to suffer that… that powerless feeling.”

“You’ll have a few hours to bring in the Wynns, we’ll take care of Lance. Finish up your paperwork—no loose ends, you hear?” Shiro’s voice was stern.

“Yes, dad,” he rolled his eyes. Shiro chuckled.

“Lotor should be awake soon. He’ll be a key witness in your case, and we’ll keep his existence from Allura for as long as possible, though I think that Coran fellow knows more than he’s letting on,” Korra said.

“Thank you, both of you, for this.”

They both nodded. “As soon as you’re done giving your account, I’d like you to get some rest,” Shiro said. “Allura and them leave for the Northern Water Kingdom in two days, and I assume you’ll be following after them.”

He nodded. “Of course.”

“I could go with you, if you think it best,” Korra said. “It may help Lance’s case to have the Avatar testifying on his behalf. I’m a bloodbender too, after all, but no one’s on my case for it. In certain situations, exceptions can and should be made.”

“I’ll talk to Lotor about it, but we’d be honored to have you with us,” Keith bowed his head.

“I’ll see you at HQ, Keith,” Shiro ushered Korra toward a separate car, while Keith went into the front of the prisoner van. He looked through the metal screen, spotting Lance, slumped against the back wall, asleep. The other prisoners were awake, crying and looking worse for wear after the scuffle.

“Good to go?” the driver asked.

“Yeah. To HQ,” Keith responded. The driver started the car, and they were off.

 

* * *

 

Where finding the murderer had been near impossible, a stretch on Keith’s patience, skill, and resources, actually convicting the trio had been a breeze. Neither Rona nor Rohair—who preferred the name Harry, he insisted—or the doctor, Grelle, were reticent in their individual interviews. Grelle had been the original mastermind, having found the first victims years ago. He’d kept their bodies in a freezer of sorts till he assembled his team. The Wynns had access to the industry, to agents and aspiring actors alike, and they found their victims through auditions. At first they selected only those who wouldn’t be missed, either because they lived alone or because their families wouldn’t be alarmed by them going missing for a few days.

There wasn’t a bloodbender, just the doctor. He used an inhalant to paralyze the victims, whereafter they were brought to the Wynn’s second mansion in the wee hours of the night. They never woke again, their bodies drained via a slow transfusion and the small puncture wound patched up before they were dumped.

The motive behind the murders was atrocious, and he was expecting all three of them to spend the rest of their lives in prison. Grelle had convinced the siblings of the power of blood, of talented people’s life source. He told them, admirers of beauty and art, that they too could become young and beautiful once more, that they could inherit the talent of the victims if only they drank their blood. It was disturbing how committed Rona and Harry were to this theory, even going so far as to beg Keith to let them have one last taste of the blood that was being chilled in their homes.

The volume of blood that they found was great, suggesting more murders than those Keith had known about. According to Grelle, they killed about thirteen, though in the beginning he hadn’t figured out how best to drain them quickly, so those bodies didn't match the others. They didn’t even remember the victim’s names or the time frame, however, so Keith had his hands full with connecting any unsolved murders to the ‘Republic City Vampires’, as the press had nicknamed them in the wake of their arrests.

In addition, he made sure to visit all of the families of the victims and give them the truth that they rightly deserved. They were grateful, even more so when he promised that the murderers wouldn’t walk away with a lax punishment. Rona and Harry’s parents were distraught at the news, and in the face of all the evidence, had chosen to disown their children and condemn them for their actions. As such, their city-appointed legal team was scrambling against a mountain of evidence, their confession, and the press; everyone wanted them dead or, at the very least, jailed indefinitely. The trial was rather quick, with the jury unanimously declaring them guilty. The judge sentenced them to jail for life, with no chance of parole, in Republic City’s maximum security prison.

Given his duties, Keith hadn’t been able to follow behind Allura and the rest of her caravan as he’d wanted to. Lotor stayed behind with him till his case wrapped up, and then the pair began their journey north; it had been only a week since he’d seen Lance, but it had felt like a lifetime.

Lotor had hired a car for the trip, but they weren’t alone. He’d introduced Keith to a talented lawyer from Ba Sing Se, a woman named Acxa, promising that she’d be able to get them the results they desired. Apparently she’d advised Lotor through the whole ordeal, unbeknownst to Lance.

“I only ever told Lance that I had a plan, should things go to shit. Acxa was always the plan,” he explained. Keith accepted it without question—if Lotor thought she could help Lance, he was fine with her presence.

Korra had made the journey alongside Allura, convincing her to behave civilly and keep her distance from Lance. Even a princess couldn’t say no to the Avatar, she reasoned; Keith still couldn’t understand why she was so invested in the whole thing: she didn’t know any of them, the only person she seemed close to was the Chief, who’d elected to maintain a neutral position in the whole thing. He supposed it didn’t matter why the Avatar acted as she did, but he was still curious.

The trip to the Northern Water Kingdom was not nearly as long as he’d anticipated, the roads clear in the summer weather. But, he was still eager to leave the cramped vehicle and stretch his legs finally when he and Lotor arrived.

He was immediately blown away by the sight: a city, more like a fortress, of ice and snow. And yet, it wasn’t unbearably cold—why wasn’t it all melting away? Of in the distance he saw an impressive mountain range, patches of green pine poking through the white, fluffy layers of snow.

“You grew up here?” he asked Lotor. Acxa stood beside them.

“No. Not in the capitol. My family wasn’t as important as Alfor’s, after all, so we were a bit farther away.” He pointed toward a large building’s roof that was barely visible above the wall. “My father lives there now, but that’s where Lance’s childhood home was. Of course, now Alfor and Allura live in the Chief’s home, which you can’t see till you’re inside the gates.”

“It’s incredible,” he breathed. The buildings seemed to loom over them, even more so that the high-rises in the city.

“Republic City doesn’t have a lot of tall buildings,” Acxa noted. “Given its status as a large city, you’d think it would. Since it’s a marshland, buildings over five or six stories are impossible. Here, the ground is hard, even though it’s close to the ocean. As a result, we can always expand upwards, which is our only option since most of the main island here is covered.”

“Acxa grew up here as well,” Lotor explained. “Of humbler origins than Lance and I; I met her during training years ago.”

“But she never knew Lance?”

She shook her head. “I moved to Ba Sing Se when I was young with my family. Studied there, and now I practice law. Lotor and I reunited when he and Allanse moved to the city. I recommended their marriage, but never actually met Allanse. Lotor didn’t think it important that we did, and nor did I.”

She was very curt, practical. Keith didn’t know her, but he liked her; if anyone could get Lance out of this bind, surely she could.

“My father’s already prepared rooms for us; he’s been hosting Korra as well, I believe. I was surprised that he offered.”

“Wait… didn’t he think you dead?” Keith asked.

Lotor paused. “Oh, shit. I just sent a letter, didn’t even explain the whole faked death thing. Well, he was quite civil in his response, so whether he thinks me a ghost or not, we have beds for the night.”

“How did you fake your death, anyway?” Keith asked.

He waved his hand. “Oh, a dramatic suicide letter did the trick—my betrothed was being sentenced to death, after all, so people bought it. I said I’d thrown myself into the icy ocean so that I could ‘join my Allanse in death, the only place where our love would be accepted’,” he rolled his eyes. “I didn’t even bother with a body double.”

“It was rather sloppy,” Acxa agreed.

“Perhaps my father didn’t truly think me dead.”

Keith frowned. “Something else I’ve been wondering… the woman who taught Lance bloodbending… your mother… she’s alive and well, still?”

“We don’t know. Lance says he’s gone back to her little hut only to find it abandoned.”

“But, surely the law will see that she’s no murderer… can’t she return?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, wasn’t she banished because it was thought she killed Allura’s mother? If she’s innocent, why doesn’t she return?”

“Oh, I don’t doubt at all that she killed Agell.”

“What?!”

“My mother… she was a bit… mad, last I knew her. She loved my father above everything, thought he deserved to be the leader. She thought to ruin Alfor, to destroy him by hurting Agell. I don’t know for sure that she did it, or even how she could’ve, but as you know, she was a powerful bender. She hated Agell, and vice versa.”

“The way Lance spoke of her…”

“Lance always sees the best in people. He thought my mother a misunderstood saint, a healer above all others. He thinks Alfor a kind and benevolent ruler who did his best to raise him, despite him being an ‘unwanted bastard’, as he often describes himself. Spirits, he still loves Allura and supports her without question, after all she's done to him—when I've spoken ill of her, he's thrown a fit! His mother, too, who hasn’t written him in years, and—“ he paused. Shaking his head, he sighed. “I must tell you something, Keith, and I hope it’s not the last straw for you. There’s one last secret I’m sure Lance kept—I doubt it ever came up in conversation.”

Another secret? What else could there be? Hadn’t Lance told him he was done lying to him? “Will it change anything?”

“Perhaps. But, knowing you, I think you’ll be understanding. Lance, he never told me the things you confided in him, but I know that you had a rough upbringing. That you did things even before you were given authority to do so, when you were a kid,” he hinted.

Keith understood. There was blood on his hands, though it wasn’t blood of any innocents. Being an orphan, he’d been forced into a number of unpleasant environments; gangs were rampant in the City, and they preyed on the young and vulnerable. He’d done things he wasn’t proud of to protect those he cared about, to protect himself at times. Lance had taken his confession easily, saying that he wasn’t to blame for… for killing anyone. That he'd had to do what he’d done to survive. Keith hadn’t thought back on that conversation till then—perhaps he should’ve known from his reaction that Lance had been hiding his own secrets.

“Are you going to tell me that he’s killed someone? After he told me he wasn’t a murderer?”

“Ah, well, it was self-defense, Luri testified on his behalf. So, technically not murder.”

“His step-father, then?” Keith guessed.

Lotor nodded. “That’s right. I’m sure you know already that he wasn’t a good man, in the end. Things got worse after Lance left. After he stopped visiting, he received news that his mother… she’d been hurt badly.”

“I get it,” Keith said. “You don’t have to give me details.”

“Nothing’s changed for you, then?”

“No. Why would it?”

He chuckled. “When I first met you, I didn’t understand what Lance might’ve seen in you. You were too different from each other, I thought. But, it’s easy to forget that Lance is a lot more than how he presents himself. I’ve known him longer than most, and he still surprises me. You’re more alike than I’d figured. I think you make him a better person.”

“Thank you.”

“I love Lance, I was in love with him once, too. I want him to be happy, but… you and I, I think I’m comfortable calling you a friend now. As such, I should advise you a bit. Lance seems like a flame, something bright and eternal and warming and pure. Does that make sense?”

It did. Keith nodded.

“But, he’s also ice. He can kill, he is powerful and unstoppable when he’s got his mind set. He can burn and destroy just as well as any fire, strangle and extinguish life and warmth. He’s as strong as a glacier but as delicate as a glass figurine, inimitable as a precious gem yet constantly chasing after an idea of what he should be.”

“I… What are you saying?”

“You bring out good things in Lance, but he can bring out the worst in people, sometimes. He can take hold in someone’s life, like water in a cliff-face, filling in holes you didn’t know existed and making you feel complete. But, he can freeze, and just like that everything you’ve worked to build crumbles from within and you're left ruined.”

“I don’t think we’re talking about the same person,” he began. Thinking on it, though, it was true that Lance had a hold, a control over him that he couldn’t even explain. When they’d broken up… he’d been devastated. But, wouldn’t that be the case with any relationship? And what was Lotor talking about, Lance ‘freezing’ or being cold? He got the fire analogy just fine, but Lance was far from cold. Sure, there was his look in the cell, the way he fought, calculated and precise… But when they were together, it was all smiles and laughs and bright, consuming light.

He squinted—the snow was damnably bright, too, wasn’t it? Soft to the eye but hard underfoot, a hidden, unspoken power lying in wait.

“Perhaps you’re just not used to the cold, you haven’t witnessed it enough to understand what I’m saying,” Lotor said. “I want you both to be happy. So, please, take my words into consideration? When Lance is freed, don’t give him all the power in your relationship. Don’t let him extinguish the light you have.”

Keith had never been described as bright, himself, as anything worth protecting. It was… touching, in a word, that someone was looking out for him. “Thank you. I’ll talk with him, about all this. Sure, we talked a bit, but it wasn’t as deep as it probably should’ve been. We didn’t really have the time.”

“Of course, you were too busy being heroes,” Lotor chuckled. “Well, let’s head home, shall we? It’s almost dinner time, and our chefs are top-notch!”

"Lead the way, then," Keith nodded, following behind Lotor as he pointed out random buildings on their way to his home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> random acxa because she's awesome
> 
> Also #keithprotectionsquad


End file.
